Work Text:
Synopsis:
The one where Nick and Charlie communicate solely through notes and drawings.
Or
When Nick loses his voice from raising his voice too much at his students whilst he has a cold during his first year of teaching, Charlie decides to take the weekend off from working on his queer children’s publishing to care for his drama Queen boyfriend. A cozy & fluffy sickfic AU where Charlie treats Nick like the prince he is.
Chapter one:
Saturdays were Charlie’s favorite day of the week because both him and Nick didn’t need to be at Work which meant they were able to wake up together. Most of the time they’d spend at least an hour in bed cuddling and laughing, sometimes playing Mario kart on the switch for an old times sake followed by getting up to go work at the local coffee shop or taking Nellie and Daisy for a long walk. On this particular Saturday morning Charlie could feel the sun beating down on his face through the sheer curtains and he laid there for a few moments breathing in his boyfriend’s sweet, familiar scent before he was jolted by several heavy rough coughs. Instantly he sat up looking at Nick who was violently coughing, Charlie shot up throwing the sheets off himself to pat the elder’s back lovingly. When this didn’t seem to soothe him as much as Charlie had hoped he shot up out of bed, “I’ll get you some water darling.”
Running across the cold tiled floors Charlie quickly got Nick a cup of water and went back into their shared bedroom with Nellie and Daisy quickly following behind him. Perching himself on the edge of the bed he passed Nick the cup, watched him gulp it down gratefully. “Careful, don’t choke.” The doting boyfriend warned taking the cup placing it on the bedside table then rubbing his back. Nick coughed some more then sneezed into his elbow. “Char,” he croaked out barely, “come cuddle.” The more Nick spoke the more Charlie’s concern rose. He watched his clearly unwell boyfriend quickly reach for the cup of water again finishing it. “I’ll refill this and come cuddle.” He took the cup out of Nick’s hand. The freckled ginger groaned out “No. Stay.” With a shake of his head the younger curly haired boy bent down kissing his boyfriend on the lips to quiet him instantly. “I’ll be right back. The dogs will keep you company.” Just by how clingy Nick was acting Charlie could sense that he was unwell. As he poured the cup of water all he could think about was how bad Nick’s voice sounded and how much it must be hurting. Nick’s cough could be heard from the kitchen, dry and hoarse.
Nick watched Charlie walk back into the bedroom in those adorable flannel pajama bottoms, silly fluffy socks he insisted on wearing and Nick’s old Truham PE top. God he loved Charlie so much, holding out his arms to invite his handsome boy back to bed. As he crawled back into bed he handed Nick the cup of water, which he accepted since his throat felt like he’d swallowed glass. “Your voice sounds wrecked, how do you feel?” He groaned, stopping when he realized that made the pain worse. “Like crap, I’m so tired and I have a headache, again.” Charlie ran his fingers through Nick’s messy hair. “I missed you so much this week.” The younger of the two chuckled,stroking Nellie as he laid on Nick’s chest. “How’s spending the day in bed sound?” Charlie saw him visually smile as he sunk back down into the bed. Taking advantage of his boyfriend’s stillness Charlie curled up beside him.
Chapter two:
It wasn’t long before Nick fell back asleep and Charlie decided this was the perfect opportunity to sneak away and do some chores because he knew the moment his boyfriend was awake he’d become clingy making it difficult to get things done. This didn’t bother him much because Charlie loved doting on Nick giving him his undivided attention and making him special because he felt that he could give back to Nick for all the support he’s received over the years plus one thing about Charlie was that he loved feeling needed.
After he’d let the dogs out the back door he went back into the kitchen. Making a start on their porridge, this was a decision Charlie had come to based on what he thought would be easiest for Nick to swallow. Something Charlie learnt about Nick fairly early into their relationship was that Nick didn’t cope with being ill well: he was clingy and needy (Charlie loved this) but he also hated eating, drinking and taking medicine (this Charlie didn’t love). Armed with this information he always did everything in his power to make Nick’s sick days as easy and comfortable as possible. Using their Alexa show Charlie looked up things to help sore throats, he read that Honey and lemon help so naturally he put heaped teaspoons of honey into his boyfriend’s porridge. To go with the porridge he also made a large mug of hot honey and lemon water for Nick to sip on. As the dogs downed their breakfast in record speed Charlie put the human’s breakfast onto a lap tray before retreating to the bedroom.
“How’s my favorite patient doing? Feeling ready for some breakfast?” Nick sat up moving his pillows behind him for comfort. Charlie set a well stocked tray on his lap then got back into bed beside him. “So you’ve got a bowl of porridge with sugar and honey because I thought that’d be easy on your throat and filling because I know you don’t have much appetite when you’re sick. The drink is warm lemon and honey water because I looked up online that apparently that’s good for a sore throat. There’s a bottle of water because it can’t hurt to have some close by. Then obviously I got you a packet of cold and flu tablets.” In that moment he was filled with so much love for Charlie that moment all he could do was kiss his forehead. “Tha-“ Nick tried to speak but all that came out was a crackly raspy whisper, Charlie whipped his head round holding his hands up to cup Nick’s cheeks. “Right, that's it. I’m putting you on vocal rest, Mr. I mean it. no more talking at all, you can tell me what you need by writing it on pieces of paper.” He frowned but ultimately he knew Charlie was right, he didn’t want to permanently damage his vocal cords. “I’ve got an idea, you lay there and enjoy your breakfast. I’ll be back I promise.”
Chapter three:
Charlie left the bedroom and went into the shared study. He picked up his favorite rainbow storage container and filled it with index cards and pens, as well Nick’s blue light glasses before going into the lounge to grab their Nintendo switch and packet of uno cards. After loading up his storage container the ever doting boyfriend made his way back into the bedroom to see Nick, who threw his phone down on the bed eagerly awaiting his return. He smiled, stroking the dogs’ heads lovingly as he passed. “Told you I wouldn’t be long, didn’t I?” Nick leaned into Charlie’s shoulder practically the second he got back into bed, as he’d suspected the clinginess had begun. “This is a box of everything you might want, so you don’t need to get out of bed if you don’t feel like it. Here’s your blue light glasses so you don’t irritate your head so much. Now you can use this pack of index cards and pens to tell me when you need something rather than talking. Then I bought the switch in and the uno cards to give us something to do while relaxing.” The unwell boyfriend lifted his head and planted a sweet gentle kiss on his cheek before returning to his previous position, taking his glasses and putting them on whilst his boyfriend tucked into his breakfast.
Whilst Charlie had abandoned him to tidy up the breakfast items Nick opened the packet of index cards and started to write “I love you Char” on one with cute but cheesy hearts all around the words, a card with “yes” and “no” on either side folded shortly after as he figured he’d use those words the most. Nellie cuddled up beside him warming up his lap, he guessed Daisy had followed Charlie into the kitchen looking for scraps of food. After a few painful coughs which weren’t really eased by water Nick picked up his phone and texted Charlie to see if they had any cough drops in the first aid box that lived in the kitchen cupboards. It wasn’t long before his dark curly haired boyfriend was standing in the doorway holding 3 different kinds of cough drops, he held up the card that said “thank you” and Charlie smiled when he read it, handing the packets to him.
Much to his relief the cough drops seemed to ease Nick’s throat, but he still felt far from well. It was like Charlie could sense this and opened his arms, “wanna lay on my chest and play mario kart?” He asked and within seconds Nick lovingly slumped on his chest holding a switch controller in one hand and clutching Charlie’s stomach with the other. The two young men played fairly quietly for several hours only stopping when either of them needed the bathroom. At some point in the afternoon Nick picked up the index cards and wrote “UNO and a movie, you pick?” Charlie smiled, stroking his hair and picking up the TV remote to switch on Pirates of the Caribbean simply because he knew this was a childhood favorite of Nick’s. Charlie shuffled the cards, (because if Nick had done it he'd have dropped them) gave himself and Nick six cards each then placed the remainder of the deck onto the lap tray whilst his unwell boyfriend sat up against the pillows. The teenage sweethearts played a couple of very competitive games before the older one grew tired and ended up back laid across the other’s chest watching the movie and cuddling. “Nick, darling. Nick, it’s 7pm. I need to make dinner.” Charlie gently shook him awake. He rubbed his eyes sitting up glaring at his boyfriend with his infamous puppy dog eyes. “Want to sit at the kitchen island and keep me company?”
Chapter four-
As much as Charlie hated Nick being unwell he loved having a chill domestic day with his love. The pair decided to open Netflix on the Alexa show so they could watch something together whilst Charlie heated up soup and bake at home baguettes, soft food that would comfort Nick. As Brooklyn 99 played, the younger boyfriend stirred the soup on the hob looking at the screen from time to time, blowing a kiss whenever he could see the stubbly ginger man looking at him. He wasn’t sure if it was the day of rest with Char or simply the virus working its way out his system but Nick was feeling better than he had all week. He picked up his phone and opened the Alexa app. It wasn’t long before Alexa paused Netflix to read out “I love you Char, sent from Nick’s second iPhone.” Upon hearing this Charlie paused on dishing up their dinner and walked around the island to cup Nick’s cheeks in his hands, “I love you too, Nick” gently kissing him before returning to plating up their dinner. As he tried to stand up an abrupt coughing fit came over Nick, making his head ache. He picked up his water bottle and drank a few sips. “Are you okay, love?” Charlie asked, he wasn’t one for pet names neither of them were but they seemed to spill out of him when Nick wasn’t himself. Nick was swaying slightly then the dogs heard a cat outside and ran between his legs knocking him down as if he was merely a leaf on a windy day. “NICK!!” His boyfriend called out practically throwing the baking tray of bread onto the kitchen side and getting down onto the floor in front of him. “I’m okay, I think.” Charlie shook his head. “You scared me, are you hurt?” Putting an arm behind Nick and helped him to stand.
Once he was sat on the couch Charlie made sure Nick was comfortable with pillows behind him. “So you’re sure you didn’t hurt yourself when you fell? That’s good. I think you need another dose of the cold medicine. It might be better if we eat dinner here on the couch, so you can’t fall over again.” The pair shared a brief kiss before Charlie rubbed Nick’s arm and walked into the kitchen. True to his word the loving boyfriend placed another full tray down on the coffee table passing the packet of medicine and a glass of water to his boyfriend. “Thank you for today.” Nick croaked out after he dutifully took another dose of medicine. Charlie put his fingers to Nick’s lips, “shh. Let’s get some dinner in you, build your strength back up.” He broke apart the baguette and dipped it in the soup then gently put it in Nick’s mouth smiling like a cheeky little child.
After dinner Charlie took their plates and washed up whilst Nick remained on the couch. “I’m just making a cup of tea. Can I get you anything?” Before his boyfriend had a chance to open his mouth, a notepad and pen were thrust into his hands. Once he was finished writing he turned the pad around so that Charlie could read it. “Of course you can have a bowl of ice cream even if it is with that dreaded bubblegum sauce you still insist on buying at 26 years old. I’ll bring you another mug of hot honey and lemon too.” He chuckled making his way out into the kitchen. By the time Charlie returned Nellie was curled up in Nick’s lap and he’d pulled the recliner out so his legs were raised, Charlie paused for a moment in the doorway taking in the adorable sight before him.
“Missed you.” Nick croaked out still stroking Nellie who was fast asleep. Charlie sat down on the couch before passing him his bowl of ice cream. As much as he believed bubblegum flavored anything was a crime, Charlie enjoyed watching Nick as he ate it because it made him so happy, “is that good love?” The older boy nodded leaning against him lovingly. The pair continued to watch Brooklyn 99 curled up on the couch and Daisy decided to rest on Charlie’s lap. Without thinking much of it Charlie opened his work emails and replied to a few whilst stroking Daisy. He felt Nick cough next to him, “I’m sorry” he managed. Dropping his phone into his lap and stroking his boyfriend’s hair, “it’s okay. You didn’t jolt me.” The older man sat up slightly and looked at him sincerely, “no I’m sorry for taking you away from your work today, I know-“ before Nick could finish his rambling Charlie grabbed his cheeks kissing him. ‘Look you needed me today and that’s much more important than my publishing work that can most definitely wait until Monday. I love looking after you Nick, I need you to believe me. Domestic days with you will forever be my favorite.” He laid back gently, encouraging the other young man to do the same. “Come on, just relax and watch the telly with me.”
Epilogue:
As he looked down Charlie noticed Nick’s breathing had slowed right down and he was asleep still cuddling Nellie the same way a small child would hug their stuffed animal, for a moment Charlie just looked at him feeling completely filled with love for the young man laying next to him. Since he didn’t have the heart to make Nick move to bed he quietly got the blanket off the back of the couch and gently placed it over his sleeping boyfriend so he wouldn’t catch a chill. As a yawn escaped the younger man’s mouth he felt himself playing with the older one’s hair until he too fell asleep on the couch.