"Mum, calm down," I pleaded, clasping my mum's shoulders to steer her away from where she was obsessively watching over the roast in the oven. There was a thin sheen of sweat on her brow, the heat radiating from the appliance casting an orange glow across her face.
"Wes, you were the one who told me that your boyfriend was a good cook," mum huffed, blowing a stray strand of hair from her face, stepping around my to begin obsessing over the salad she was preparing.
"Mum, it's fine, he's not picky with food," I groaned, wincing a little as she frantically chopped a cucumber into small pieces that were maybe a little too small. Mum whirled around at that, raising a brow, knife stopping mid air.
"You said that you had never tasted pasta better than his," mum said, the corner of her mouth twitching as she saw my face redden. Shaking her head and turning back to the slaughtered cucumber, mum continued. "We can't have him thinking that his boyfriend's family has no palate."
"Ooookay," I drawled, plucking a piece of cucumber from the chopping board and popping it into my mouth, mum giving me a sideways glance. I was about to try and steal another cucumber slice, but was pushed away from the food by Jamie, who was carrying a large bowl over her head.
"Move, move, move!" Jamie called out, almost knocking my forehead with the bowl.
"Jamie, what the hell," I grumbled, my sister snickering as she placed the large bowl onto the counter beside mum.
"You were in the way," Jamie grinned, kicking my with her foot. "Anyway, the kitchen is way too cramped for the three of us, so go and set the table or something." Flipping my sister a discreet bird behind mum's back, which was returned by a much less discreet one from Jamie (the back of her head getting smacked by mum), I went to set the table.
Setting up three places like normal, I couldn't help but smile to myself as I clutched onto the fourth plate, stroking its rim as I carefully placed it beside my own.
Nico's place.
It has been a few days since the whole coming out debacle, and things had somewhat settled down. It had taken a good moment for mum to begin to say the word 'boyfriend' without sounding forced, but it hadn't taken her long to get over her initial apprehension to invite Nico to dinner to meet him officially. Butterflies flitted around in my stomach as I quickly set up the cutlery and napkins, my phone buzzing in my pocket as I lay down Nico's share.
Checking my phone, my heart flipped when Nico's face shone on the screen, a request for a video call blinking up at me. Smoothing my wayward hair down quickly before answering, my smile widened immediately when I saw Nico blinking back at me, a matching grin on his face.
"Babe," Nico said, switching the camera away from his face to show his full form in a floor-length mirror. "Is this okay?"
"What?" I asked, blinking a few times as Nico rolled his eyes, stepping closer to the mirror.
"My clothes," Nico said, as if he were stating the obvious. "Are they okay?" Looking away from his face and at his clothes, I noticed Nico wearing a button up shirt and freshly ironed jeans, his hair a little damp and freshly washed. Although he was always extremely handsome, he had never dressed as neatly as he did now, and it was as if I was seeing a whole new Nico. Nico tilted his head to the side and cleared his throat, a small smirk playing at his lips in the reflection. "Like what you see, Wes? You're staring."
"You... You're asking me about your outfit?" I asked, my chuckle laced with embarrassment at being caught staring. Nico sighed at my words, switching the camera back to his face, which was growing a little exasperated.
"Yes, I'm asking you. I'm going to dinner at your house, I need to know if I'm, you know, dressed appropriately," Nico replied, shrugging. The little crease in his brow and the way his blue eyes darted off to the side of the camera to glance at his figure in the mirror made my heart squeeze tightly.
"Nico, you don't have to, um, "dress appropriately", Nico. It's just a casual dinner," I said, hand pressing against my racing heart to try and still it.
"It's not..." Nico said, giving me a pointed look. "I'm meeting your family, Wes. It's important, especially since they don't really like me." Nico's mouth turned down at his own words, his camera switching away from his face as he seemingly threw it onto his bed. I heard the sound of fabric swishing, the white button down Nico had been wearing flying off the corner of the screen.
"Wait, I'm going to try on something else," Nico called loudly, and I stifled my snort, a little giddy.
"Nico," I spoke back, the top of his head peeking through the bottom of his camera. "I wanna see you."
"You wanna see me?" Nico asked, grinning. Slowly moving his body up, revealing the slope of his neck and the beginnings of his now bare chest, Nico wiggled a brow teasingly. "What exactly do you want to see, Wes?"
Gulping, I glanced around the dining room before quickly darting up to my room. I didn't need Jamie or mum to see me talking to my half naked boyfriend, who was hinting at my desire for a pre-dinner striptease.
"What are you willing to show me?" I asked, my grin mirroring Nico's as his phone dipped down slightly to reveal the chiseled indentations across his abdomen.
"Someone wants dessert a little early, hm?" Nico said, making me blush. Suddenly pulling his phone up closer to his face, blue eyes, shining, Nico's eyes softened. "But sorry, babe. I can't really meet your family with a boner. Now, is this shirt better, or this one?"
Groaning at my boyfriend's stinginess, I glanced between the two shirts Nico was holding - both button downs, and things he would look good in, though they weren't things that he would usually wear. Nico rarely wore shirts with long sleeves, either because his body usually ran hot and he wanted to display the inkings he had lining his arms. He only wore jumpers and coats when it was genuinely cold out, but when he was inside and warm they immediately came off. And now, here he was, wearing these restricting shirts because he thought they were "appropriate" for me. For my family. For us.
"Nico," I said, looking at my boyfriend fondly. Hearing the change of tone in my voice, Nico stopped staring at the shirts in his hands to look at me, head cocking to the side curiously. "You don't have to wear anything special, or... "appropriate". Just wear what you usually wear, that's more than enough." Nico opened his mouth, clearly to retort, but I shushed him with a short laugh. "Please?"
Nico looked at me for a long second, before sighing, throwing his shirts across the room.
"Fine," Nico sighed, giving me a pointed look, before running his fingers through his dark hair. "Do I need to do my hair?"
"Nico," I groaned. "You look good already, seriously calm down." My own words didn't even register until Nico chuckled, letting out a smug sound of affirmation.
"So honest today, babe," Nico teased, making me huff, though I couldn't stay too mad at him when he was smiling at me like that.
"Okay, shut up asshole. If you don't leave now you're going to be late," I said, a little glimmer of mischief in my voice. "And my mum doesn't like people who aren't punctual..."
"You're telling me now, Wes? Seriously?" Nico swore, giving me a look as I watched him hastily stride towards his wardrobe to pull out a fresh T-shirt. "Okay, I'm going to get ready. See you soon, babe."
"Mm," I said, Nico hanging up soon after, leaving me in silence. After talking with Nico, there were new butterflies in my stomach. From downstairs, I heard a few clashes as pans probably flew, and Jamie's loud screech, the words muffled by my door but sounding a lot like "It tastes like death."
I couldn't help but laugh at Jamie's words, pulling my body up to help them finish dinner preparations, even if it meant just carrying things from the kitchen to the formal dining room. As the golden glow from the oven began to cool when the timer ticked to zero, there was a shrill ring of the door bell.
"Fuck, he's here!" Jamie shrieked, almost dropping the hot roast dish between her oven mitts.
"Language, Jamie!" mum said, before muttering the very same curse under her breath as she looked at the sorry state our kitchen was in. "Wes, let him in. But don't let him come into the kitchen."
"Sure," I said, shaking my head fondly before walking to the front door. Not hesitating to open it at all, I curled my mouth into a soft smile as Nico's form appeared before me. One hand in his pocket and the other fiddling behind his back, likely doing so instead of smoking a cigarette, Nico stood there without moving. His toes brushed the slightly raised platform at the base of my door, his eyes level with mine as I stepped forward, arms holding the door open.
"Hi," I whispered, reaching forward to wrap my arms around Nico's shoulders, kissing his mouth softly.
"Hi," Nico replied, holding me steady by my waist with his left hand, smiling into my kiss. "Are you going to invite me in?"
"Depends," I said, bumping my forehead into Nico's gently. "What do you have to offer?"
"Hmph," Nico said, brows crinkling. Wiggling his arms, Nico pulled out a dish of something that looked like tiramisu, smirking. "Is this enough?"
"For me?" I said, raising my brow.
"It's an offering for your mum and sister," Nico said, making me hum in understanding.
"Trying to impress them or something?" I asked, Nico shrugging, though he didn't deny my words. "What about me, though? You haven't made an offering to me yet."
"Why would I need to?" Nico asked, leaning forward, his feet stepping inside the threshold of my home. Now standing on a level plane, Nico towered over me, making me swallow thickly. "I've already impressed you."
Oh. This smooth motherf-
"O-Okay," I stammered, quickly pulling Nico in to shut the door. Nico laughed at my heated cheeks, pinching them fondly. "No offering, that's okay."
"I thought so," Nico said, wrapping his arms around me to hug my tightly before letting out a long sigh, nuzzling his face into my hair. The two of us hugged for a moment, before Nico pulled back, glancing around the room.
"Oh, right," I said, slapping my palm against my forehead. "This is your first inside my place, right?"
"Mhmm," Nico said, walking over to a framed picture hanging on the wall. Since dad left only a week or two ago, mum and Jamie had wasted no time removing any traces of him and replacing them with more of us. Mum had fished out some old cheesy professional photos of Jamie and I from when we were kids, the images a little grainy with age but nonetheless. Eyes skimming over a few pictures of Jamie, Nico's eyes found a photo of me, immediately lighting up as he grinned. "Shit, you were a chubby kid, babe."
"Thanks," I said bitterly, shoving Nico with my shoulder, the boy chuckling.
"Chubby but cute," Nico amended, making me shove him again, which only made him grin wider, eventually hugging me from behind to stop my from nudging him with my shoulder. Leaning his head on my shoulder, mouth close to my ear, Nico spoke quietly. "Yep, still really damn cute." As I struggled to articulate my thoughts, which were also a jumbled mess, a voice called out from behind us, Nico's body stiffening immediately.
"Nico?" Jamie called, her form peering from around the corner. Her messy clothes that had been caked in meat juices and other darkly pigmented sauces had been cast away, and she was now clad in a casual pair of jeans and a loose-fitting knitted jumper. She was smiling tentatively at us, eyes flickering from Nico's arms around me to my beet-red face. Nico, sensing her wandering gaze as well, dropped his arms, making me look up at him in surprise. Though his body was rigid, his face was a picture of calm. If I was looking at him from afar, much like I had used to a long, long time ago, I would have thought that he would be calm, bordering on being bored.
But now, with his arm brushing mine stiffly and one of his hands stuffed tightly in his pocket, I knew that he was nervous, even if only a little bit. That feeling bubbled up inside me, and I carefully slipped my hand into his, giving it a squeeze. Jamie, seeing my action, didn't quite seem to know what expression she should wear on her face, her features morphing from surprised to lovestruck to amusement.
"I'm Jamie," my sister said, stretching her arm out to shake Nico's free hand. "We didn't introduce ourselves last time..." Sighing loudly, Jamie sheepishly scratched at the back of her neck. "I've been meaning to apologise to you, actually. I said some things I didn't mean. Sorry."
"You meant what you said," Nico said, cracking a small smile at the memory of the bowling alley. "But you weren't wrong. It's fine."
"Oh," Jamie said, brown eyes widening slightly, clearly surprised by Nico's words. She recovered from her shock quickly, giving Nico another smile, before giving me a warm look.
'Yeah, I see why you like him,' her eyes seemed to say, making me nod a little, squeezing Nico's hand again.
"Anyway, mum said dinner is ready, if you guys wanna head in," Jamie said, stepping to the side to allow us to walk past. "Um, just warning you though, Nico..."
Nico seemed to stiffen a little at Jamie's words, his hands growing a little colder.
"Please don't expect too much from our cooking," Jamie concluded, giving him a sorry glance as Nico relaxed like putty in my grasp. "Wes told us about your skills in the kitchen, and I don't think we can really compare..."
"Jamie," I hissed, giving her a look as my ears heated, Nico giving me a look.
"Skills in the kitchen?" Nico echoed, his usual tinge of smugness seeping into his tone again.
"Ohhh yeah," Jamie said, snorting as she elbowed my in the ribs. "Not just your cooking though. He can't stop talking about you in general."
"Jamie, for fuck's sake, I swear I'm gonna-" I groaned, my sister sidestepping from my attacking hands just as we walked into the kitchen.
"Oh! You're here," mum chirped as we entered, her hands fiddling with the bowl of salad on the table. Looking up from the utensils in her hand, her eyes immediately found Nico. I saw orbs of brown trailing from the bottom of his feet to his torso, then to his arms that were linked with mine. I saw them traverse the expanse of inked skin snaking up his limbs, and then falling onto his face, taking in the dark hair and the lip ring. Her head tilted to the side a little, her face passive, not giving anything away. Before she could say anything, I stepped a little closer to Nico, hugging his arm to me. Whether I did it to assure Nico, or to show mum exactly what was going on, I didn't know. But what I did know is that the moment I did that, mum's eyes lit up and a smile growing on her features, her small body stepping around to give Nico a light hug.
Relieved, I gave Nico's hand one last squeeze before letting him go, allowing him to awkwardly hug my mum's much smaller form back.
"You must be Nico," mum said when she pulled back, expression gentle. "I'm Leanne, Wes's mum. Obviously. I've heard... a lot about you, from Wes."
"Mum!" I whined, making her, Jamie and Nico burst out laughing. Soon, however, among that laughter of three of the most important people in my life, I too began laughing as the weight on my shoulders slipped away into nothing.
~~~
"Damn, you were right, Wes," Jamie said, slumping back in her chair as if her overly-filled stomach was pushing her down like lead. "That tiramisu was... wow."
"Glad you liked it," Nico said, eyes bright. "I wasn't sure what kind of desserts you guys liked, but I guess I guessed right."
"You can make other desserts?" Jamie piped in, sitting up again as if she had suddenly grown a third (or fourth) stomach. Nico nodded at her words, Jamie turning to me, a serious expression on her face. "Wes, if you break up with him I'm going to be so angry."
"Don't jinx me!" I said through a bite of Nico's tiramisu, kicking Jamie under the table. Nico snorted in response, leaning forwards slightly.
"It's okay, Jamie. I wouldn't let him break up with me," he said, making me choke on my dessert.
"You-" I stammered, Nico shutting me up by spooning another mouthful of tiramisu into my open mouth, wiggling his brow.
"You really are a good cook though, Nico," mum said after swallowing her last morsel, her bowl basically licked clean.
"Tiramisu is barely cooking," Nico said, shaking his head modestly.
"Well, if you don't consider this cooking then I dread to think about what you thought about our 'cooking'..." mum said sheepishly. "You even ended up coming in to rescue our roast..."
"Like I said," Jamie said, looking at me defiantly. "Please don't break up with him, Wes."
"I said don't jinx me!" I cried out again, mum and Jamie laughing as Nico just shook his head, resting his hand on my thigh softly.
"Oh, I've been meaning to ask," mum said, clapping her hands together at the thought. "Are you staying the night, Nico?"
If Nico's words from a second ago made me choke on my tiramisu, mum's sentence made me throw it back up again.
"What?" I spluttered, giving mum an incredulous look, which she returned calmly, as if my outburst was completely unwarranted.
"I asked if Nico was staying the night? I assumed he might, so I bought a toothbrush for him just in case." Mum spoke casually, like she was reading out a grocery list and not inviting my boyfriend to spend the night. From not even wanting to think about me having a boyfriend only a week ago, mum was suddenly buying him pieces of domesticity and asking him to spend the night?
Sure, I had slept at Nico's more times than I can count over the last few months, but this was the first time Nico was sleeping in my bed.
My. Bed.
"I don't want to intrude..." Nico started, though the way his hand tightened around my thigh made my clear that he was very into the idea of staying the night.
"Oh, you wouldn't be intruding at all! You opened your home to Wes when he was going through a... hard time, letting you stay over is honestly the least we can do," mum assured him, Nico turning to me, eyes expectant.
"He... You... You don't have pyjamas though," I said, Jamie muttering something like "who the hell cock blocks themselves?" before excusing herself from the table.
"Oh, I'm sure you two can work something out," mum said, waving her hands like I was spouting complete nonsense, which to be fair, I was. Nico sleeps naked half the time, and only wears pants - or underwear, at least - because I asked him too.
"Well, if you're alright with it, then I'd be happy to stay the night," Nico said, smiling at my mum graciously before giving me a very different one.
"Good! Don't you boys worry about the dishes, go ahead and relax," mum said, beginning to gather the dishes up as Nico and I stood, Nico's body relaxed as he had quickly grown accustomed to my household, his initial tension ebbing away without a trace. I, however, seemed to be on high alert.
'Oh God, when was the last time I changed my sheets,' I thought to myself, brain aching as I tried to remember. 'It has to have been recently... right? Oh God.'
"You okay, babe?" Nico asked, amused expression on his face as I jumped at his words, nodding my head adamantly.
"Yep! Fine! Totally, totally fine," I said, chuckling shakily.
'I did clean my room a bit, but what if he finds something weird... No, you don't even own weird stuff, do you? Do you, Wes?'
"Babe, you look like you're about to explode," Nico snickered, pulling me into his side after we climbed the stairs. Leaning down, Nico spoke again, "It's not like this is the first time we've slept together."
"We're not 'sleeping together' in my house!" I said loudly. As my words echoed down the hall, I heard something drop in Jamie's bedroom. Blushing, I grabbed Nico's wrist, pulling him into my room and shutting the door.
"We're not?" Nico asked, cocking his head to the side. "Guess I'll sleep on the floor then..."
"No, we're sleeping together. In the bed. But we're not... 'sleeping' sleeping together," I said, my own nonsensical words making me frustrated. "Don't even say it, Nico. You know what I mean."
"So it's okay for us to 'sleep' together in my house, but not yours?" Nico asked, drawing out the word 'sleep' with his tongue.
"My sister is next door! And my mum is down the hall," I said, jerking my arm towards the shared wall between my room and Jamie's. "At yours, Bell is away half the time, and... and her room isn't next door."
"Well, Jamie wished me luck and hoped that I would, I quote, 'get some', so I honestly don't think she'd mind," Nico said, smirking as I visibly paled.
"Oh my God I hate her," I said, covering my face with my hands, collapsing onto the edge of my bed.
"She's a good sister," Nico said, flopping down beside me before pulling my hands from my face. "Your mum too. She's nice."
I'll do better.
"She is," I whispered, suddenly overcome with feeling. Nico seemed to notice, dropping his teasing and flirtatious tone from before to roll onto his side, pressing a chaste kiss to my cheek.
This is better.
This is the best.
A/N: Aaaaand sorry for the wait everyone! Finally managed to get this chapter out after a good second of being away from this story. I finished my exams (badly) a few days ago, but I just needed a few days to decompress and recover. I'm just glad they're over at this point - an exam-free life is great. I've still got some classes and other assignments to do, but the majority of my workload is done, so I can now spend some more time writing this story, which I'm sure quite a few of you are happy about :) Thank you so much for leaving such lovely comments on the last chapter, and I do apologise again for the wait. After all the emotionally draining content of the last few chapters, I needed to lighten the story back up a bit, so I hope you enjoyed it (and that it was worth the wait!).
Also, just to make it clear, there are a few more chapters after this one (I know the last chapter seemed like it was the end, but I tend to waffle on for a bit so I've still got some more story to tell). So, as always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter! xx
p.s. everyone who's keen for the smut I kind of baited you with in chapter 46 (and this chapter too, I guess), you'll have to wait a liiiittttle bit longer for it. It's coming up, just not in the next chapter. Or two. Patience is a virtue, my friends~