Chapter Text
Nick’s always yearned for the simple life. A sweet house with a spouse he adores, a dog he’d risk everything for, a job that keeps him on his toes, maybe even a couple of kids to complete his little family. It’s all he’s ever wanted. And, in his personal opinion, he has exactly that. Well, maybe not the kids part yet, give it a few years, but he has a house not too far from his mother with a front garden full of flowers, his beautiful wife, Sophia, who he met during Fresher’s Week way back when, a job teaching tiny humans that has him ending up covered in glitter more often than not and his favourite companion, his beloved Australian Shepherd called Sky. He has everything he could want.
With a tired sigh, he turns off his car and pulls his phone out of his pocket, smiling at the photo of him and Sophia on their wedding four years ago that’s his phone background. Like every time he sees this photo, his heart bursts with warmth and love. He gently strokes his thumb against the screen, as if he’s stroking Sophia’s face as he stares at it, before chuckling to himself.
“Get it together, Nelson, she’s in the sodding house,” he mutters before shoving his phone in his pocket and exiting his car.
He’ll get his work stuff later.
Sky greets him when he enters the house, jumping up with her tongue lolling out, and he doesn’t know who’s more excited to see the other, him or his dog. But he gives her the most enthusiastic scratches behind her ear, and talks to her in that high-pitched voice that is only reserved for her, until she’s finally over his silliness and trots off to gnaw on some nylon bone. He watches her for a few moments with an amused smile before letting out a happy sigh, walking through the house to greet his wife in the kitchen. It’s her night to cook and, judging by the aroma that’s slowly taking over the house, she’s making his favourite. God, he’s so lucky to be her husband.
Sophia’s standing at the hob when Nick walks into the kitchen, stirring something absentmindedly, probably the sauce, and his smile widens. He can’t help himself when he steps over to her to wrap his arms around her waist, and press his lips to her right cheek, grinning at the way she jumps and squeals.
“Good evening, beautiful,” he murmurs softly, starting to rock her a little, burying his nose in her brown hair to breathe in his favourite scent of coconut and vanilla.
She giggles, turning around so her green eyes meet his dark brown eyes, and wraps her arms around his neck. “Hey, hubby. How was work?”
Nick’s never been a fan of the whole hubby/wifey pet names but he lets it slide because it makes Sophia happy.
“You’ll be pleased to know that there was no glitter involved today.”
“So, no sparkly surprises waiting for me when we go to bed tonight?”
He shakes his head, chuckling. “Nope. I did narrowly avoid getting covered with tie dye, though. Hattie was very enthusiastic with turquoise.”
She laughs, her eyes glimmering. “You and your inability to make a regular lesson plan.”
“I’ll have you know, art and creativity is imperative to learning. We were doing colours and seeing what happens if you mix them. For example, Evelyn learned that, if you mix all of the colours together, it creates a weird brown colour.”
“You know I love you because of your passion,” she says before turning and stepping out of Nick’s arms to put the sauce on simmer. “Dinner won’t be long if you wanna shower.”
He hums, pressing a kiss to her neck. “How about you come shower with me, darling? You know I get lonely in there.”
She laughs more and leans her head back to kiss him. “I can’t, baby. I gotta cook. But… I might have a surprise for you later.”
“Mmm, I can’t wait,” he grins, kissing her again. “I won’t be long.”
With a slap on the arse that makes Sophia squeal, Nick snickers like a teenager and almost skips away to climb the stairs. Her laughter is like music to his ears.
Nick loves the quiet evenings with Sophia and Sky. It’s still cold as winter slowly seeps into spring and Sky is laid across the hearth of the lit living room fireplace as Nick peers through his glasses at the open exercise book on his lap. Sophia’s sitting next to him, engrossed in her TikTok For You page, and his heart flutters every time he hears her giggling, unable to stop himself from looking at her every time. No, he has to focus on marking his students’ schoolwork. He clears his throat and pushes his glasses up his nose, twirling his pen in his hand, as he scans the seventeenth short paragraph he’s had to mark this evening. He loves his kids, and he knows they’re only in Year One, but there’s only so much incorrect spelling, punctuation and grammar a guy can take.
He pinches the bridge of his nose. Okay, maybe he should stop.
“Everything okay, love?” Sophia asks when she sees him drop the pile of exercise books onto the floor.
He plucks his glasses off to rub his eyes and nods. “Who knew there were so many different ways to misspell ‘teacher’?”
She chuckles, returning to her phone as it lets out a ‘ping!’. “The brain of a five-year-old is truly a magical place.”
He sighs as he allows himself to sink into the sofa and he looks over at Sophia, watching her type fast into her phone. She must be talking to one of her friends. He leaves her to it and reaches across her to grab the remote for the TV, going to kiss her on the way like he always does, except, this time, she freezes and clutches her phone to her chest, shielding it from his view. Slightly weirded out, he raises his hands in surrender.
“I was just grabbing the remote,” he says carefully. “Is everything okay with you?”
“Everything’s fine,” she shrugs but Nick knows her too well, the slight change in octave means she’s hiding something.
“You sure?” he continues. “You don’t usually… hide your phone from me.”
He’s never been one to not trust his wife. He never demands to check her phone. Her phone, her privacy. But she’s always been so open with her phone that her suddenly hiding it from him when he’s near sets something off inside him. Not quite red flags or alarm bells but… something.
She stares at him for a few seconds, jumping out of her trance when her phone gives another ‘ping!’, before she sighs, placing her phone facedown on the coffee table. Another thing she’s never done before. Nick looks at her.
“This isn’t how I wanted this conversation to start,” she begins with another hefty sigh and he notes that she’s avoiding his eyes completely.
What the hell is going on?
“What conversation, what’s going on?”
She runs her fingers through her hair and looks at him. She’s still avoiding his eyes.
“Baby…” she whispers. “Would you be open to the idea of… opening the marriage?”
And, just like that, everything inside Nick’s brain comes screeching to a halt.
So many emotions flooded his system at once. Hurt, confusion, betrayal, sadness. Everything, all at the same time.
What the fuck?