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In the full year that Nick has known and been with Charlie, he’s noticed just how much Charlie has poured everything he has into his daughter, Jules. The first time he fully realised was when Charlie showed him his room compared to his little girl’s. There was nothing but a mattress on the floor and a clothing rail.It broke Nick’s heart.He wants Charlie to have everything he never did. And his plan to make that happen starts now.—The idea came to him about a week ago when Nick spent the weekend at Charlie’s. Once Tori dropped Jules off back home, he swiftly took her into Charlie’s room as Charlie went to make her dinner. “How well can you keep a secret, Jules?”“I’m really good at keeping secrets! Sometimes, when daddy tells me to tidy up I push everything under my bed so he can’t see!” The six year old giggled.“Good. But don’t do that anymore, yeah?” Nick smiled, picking her up. “Fine,” Jules conceded. “Why do I have to be good at keeping secrets, Nick?” She asked.“Because I need your help to make your daddy’s room as pretty as yours. But he can’t know until it’s done. Do you think you want to help me?”Jules squealed and nodded excitedly. “Yes! I can tell you his favourite colour! Does that help?”“It does! I’ll tell you when I have more details, okay?” Nick beamed. He loved this little girl.Jules nodded, her face serious and she only wiggled out of Nick’s arms when Charlie called that her dinosaur nuggets were ready.—“Charlie, you frankly don’t have a choice.” Nick states, matter of factly. He’s been trying to convince Charlie to get out of his house since yesterday.All the furniture and decorations he ordered throughout the week – with Jules’ help – were arriving in half an hour, and he’ll be damned if Charlie sees them come in, they’ve kept the secret this long, he is not going to have the grand reveal dampened.“Nick, really, I’d prefer to stay with Jules since Tori and Michael can’t get her today.” Charlie argues while still slipping his converse on like Nick instructed him to.“I told you I’ll handle Jules. You deserve a break, baby, really. Go to the beach and read, or go shopping. Anything your heart desires! You know I’ve got her.”Charlie rolls his eyes, but Nick knows there’s no malice behind it. “Fine,” Charlie caves. Jules gets it from him. “Three hours, at most. And then I’m coming back.”“Three hours. Deal.” Nick agrees, lightly pushing Charlie out of the front door by his shoulders. “I love you.”Charlie sighs. Again, Nick knows there’s no malice. “I love you too.” Charlie smiles, pulling Nick in for a quick kiss.“Charlie, we don’t kiss our friends.” Nick teases, the corners of his lips twitch up in a smile.“You are never gonna stop with that, are you?”“Nope! Now out you go, shoo, shoo, shoo.” Nick laughs, closing the door behind Charlie.Jules speaks out from the kitchen where she’s eating her breakfast. “Did daddy leave?”“Yes, darling, he did.” Nick sits by her, quickly checking his phone on the delivery status. “All the surprises are on their way, which means we have time to choose what music to play while we set everything up.”“Can’t we just listen to Tangled songs?”“We can do that.”Shortly after Jules finishes eating, the delivery men arrive and Jules, being the most insistent child there is, directs everyone to where everything in Charlie’s room should go and how everything should be put together from her lofty position sitting up on Nick’s shoulders.Everyone has to listen to When Will My Life Begin? to the point of it being fused into their brains for life, but no one can ever deny blue eyes as wide and bright as hers. Nick is way past the point of trying not to give in, having absolutely no power over Jules’ or Charlie’s pouts. Especially when they gang up on him.Nick and Jules are sure to send check in pictures to Charlie, making sure Charlie’s room is not in frame in the photos. They have to seem as casual as possible.Everything is built and done with fifteen minutes left to spare. The delivery men are paid and out and Nick and Jules race to make up Charlie’s new bed with the yellow sheets and duvet Jules picked out. Once they’re done, Jules is knackered and napping in her room.Charlie texts Nick that he’s almost home and Nick does a quick once over look at the room. He makes sure the new fairy lights hanging from the window are working and on, and double checks that all of Charlie’s favourite books are sitting nicely in the small bookshelf in the corner.He steps back to admire the room. Charlie’s clothes are now packed away in a dresser and his new bedside table has a lap that lights up the entire room in a soft glow. All the photos and posters he put up are straight and aligned and the bed looks perfect. Just like Charlie.He hears the keys rattle in the lock and closes Charlie’s door, flying to the couch. He lays against the arm rest, and scrolls blindly on instagram, trying to look as casual as possible. When Charlie walks in Nick looks up, smiling. “Hi darling. How was your day?” He sits up, letting Charlie sit by him, pulling his legs onto his own lap.“It was good actually. I hate to admit it, but you were right, I really needed it. Thank you for kicking me out of my own house.” Charlie smiles, taking one of Nick’s hands in his own and lacing their fingers together.“It was my pleasure. I love kicking people out of their homes.” Nick jokes.“Where’s Jules?” Charlie asks, after scanning the room.“She’s napping. She got pretty tired after one too many games of musical statues.” Nick says, smoothly. He and Jules decided on every possible cover up story. “I have something I want to show you.”“Yeah?” Charlie stands up from the couch. “Is everything okay?”“Everything is perfect.” Nick reassures him, standing up. He leads Charlie to his room and covers his eyes once they get to the door.“What are you doing?” Charlie giggles.“You’ll see. No peeking.” Nick whispers, planting a quick kiss on Charlie’s cheek. He opens the bedroom door. “Okay. Now you can look.” He slowly removes his hand from Charlie’s eyes, giving him a full view of his new room.“Nick…” Charlie gasps. “What is this?”“I kinda made you a new room? I hope it’s okay, I know I didn’t warn you beforehand or ask but I really wanted to do this for you. You’ve done so much to make sure Jules has a good life and I wanted to do that for you too.” Nick rambles, feeling anxious over Charlie’s reaction.Charlie turns around to face him. “You did this… For me?” He asks, almost as though he doesn't believe it.“Well, Jules did a lot of the decision making, but, yeah.” “That’s why she kept asking if my favourite colour was yellow? She was in on this?” Charlie’s eyes were filling to the brim with tears but Nick has never seen him smile so wide.“Oh, she was very much in on this.” Nick smiles.Charlie crashes into him, throwing his arms around his neck in a hug. “Thank you.” He whispers into Nick’s chest.Nick wraps his arms around his waist, pulling him closer and kissing the top of his head. “I told you, you deserve only the best, didn't I?”Charlie pulls back just enough to look up at him. “I love you.”“I love you too, angel.”Charlie’s smile reappears showcasing his beautiful dimples and reaches up on his toes, pulling him in for a tender kiss. Nick kisses back with as much love and devotion he can before pulling back, smiling. “Stop kissing your friends, Charlie.”“Fuck off.” Charlie whines before jumping into his new bed, giggling.