Chapter Text
“Hey do you mind if I take off a little earlier today?” Robert asked a few days later as he and Aaron sat down for their mid morning tea break. It was cold and rainy so they felt like they deserved it.
“Sure.” Aaron said without thinking “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, yeah everything is fine. Or well… I hope so. I told Vic about the flat. She’s happy for me. She understands Seb and I need a place of our own.”
Aaron nodded.
“That’s good.”
“Yeah… I just haven’t told Seb yet. That’s what I wanted to do today. Pick him up from school and then bring him here to show him the village and the flat.”
“Alright. What time did you want to take off?”
“After lunch? So I’ll have plenty of time to get there…and maybe buy some sweets to bribe him on the way.” Robert said and Aaron laughed.
“Sure. No problem. We’ll just lock up early today. It’s not like we’ll get much done in this rain anyway.”
Only by lunchtime the rain had turned into sleet and the local radio kept repeating the same weather warning. Avoid travel unless absolutely necessary. Stay where you are, don’t go out on the roads.
“Well that’s just great.” Robert sighed, turning off the radio. “There’s no way I’m going to make it back to Leeds now.”
“You don’t know that…” Aaron tried. “You could just get in your car and see how bad it is. The motorway will be clear.”
“Yeah but I have to get to the motorway first. And then drive to Seb’s school and back here.” Robert shook his head. “I can’t risk it. I better call Vic to ask her to pick him up.”
“Is she alright to drive then?”
“The boys’ school is close to her house. She can walk with them.” Robert explained and dialled his sister’s number. “Vic? It’s me. Have you heard the news? I can’t make it back tonight. Not in this weather.”
Aaron did his best not to listen in on a private conversation. He considered going outside but one look out the window cured him of that thought.
“No I’m alright. I’ll just stay put. I’ve got a few bits at the flat, I’ll be fine. There’s a shop in the village, I’ll get a microwave meal or something.” Aaron heard Robert tell Vic. “Tell Seb I’ll ring tonight and I’ll come to pick him up tomorrow… if the weather improves. Yeah. Thanks. See you tomorrow. Bye.” He said and hung up.
“All sorted?”
“Yeah… but he’ll be disappointed.”
“Nothing you can do about this, can you? It’s the weather.”
“I know, I know.” Robert sighed and drained the last of his tea and shrugged his jacket back on.
“Where are you going?” Aaron asked.
“Outside… to work…”
“It’s freezing and raining. You’ll catch your death out there. And I don’t want to have to tell Seb his dad caught pneumonia because I sent him out in the rain.”
“What else am I supposed to do then? Just sit here for the rest of the afternoon?”
“No, just go home. Enjoy an afternoon to yourself.”
“Right… yeah…”
“What? I’ll pay you if that’s what you’re worried about?”
“No, no, it’s just… I don’t have anything to do… I don’t have anything at the flat yet apart from a change of clothes and a Stephen King novel I know by heart…”
“Oh… well… I suppose you could do some work…” Aaron said, looking out the window and thanking god and his mother for insisting on the space heater currently warming the cabin. “But… well… I don’t have anything else for you to do. And I’m updating the books…”
“Do you need help with that?” Robert offered. “I’m good with numbers.”
“Uh sure… but it’s a lot of work… I hate doing it so I always put it off too long.”
“That’s ok.” Robert said, pulling up a chair. “I don’t have any plans for today.”
With Robert’s help Aaron got a lot more work done than he normally would have. And he also hated it a lot less.
He stretched and was just about to suggest to call it a day when he noticed Robert looking at his watch.
“Are you waiting for something?”
“No. I just… what time does the shop in the village close?”
“Six… I think. Maybe seven. Why?”
“Well my shiny new fridge and kitchen are empty. I was hoping to pick up some food. Something other than half a Twix and a can of coke.”
“You can join me and Liv for tea if you like.” Aaron offered right away.
“No, I don’t want to intrude.”
“You’re not. I just invited you didn’t I?”
“Yeah but… it’s not just your place is it?”
“Liv won’t mind. I promise you, she won’t.”
“Ok… but do you have enough for one more then?”
“Plenty. And if not, we’ll just go to the pub to grab something to eat. I think Marlon is experimenting with new recipes for the menu, he drives my mum mad.” Aaron laughed. “But if we tell him we’ll be his guinea pigs, we’ll get free food.”
“Well how can I say no to that?”
The pub was busy but Aaron still managed to get them a table near the bar. He quickly introduced Robert to his mum and Charity and got them to work their magic on Marlon.
In the end they just got a burger and chips each from an exasperated Marlon, but it was still free so neither of them complained.
They sat and talked for a while as they ate their food until Liv came barging into the pub and sat down next to Robert while giving her brother a death stare.
“I was at home, waiting for you! Why didn’t you text me you were in here?”
“Oh… erm… sorry… I uh forgot I suppose.” Aaron stammered
“Clearly.” Liv replied, rolling her eyes. “Why are you in here anyway?”
“Robert couldn’t go back to Leeds tonight because of the weather so we came here to get some free food.” Aaron explained quickly. “Go get your own, the kitchen is still open.”
“I already ate. At home. I thought you were working late.”
“I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I’m the idiot that moves into a new place and doesn’t do any shopping. Your brother just took pity on me and got me something to eat.” Robert said, half joking.
“That’s not true.” Aaron protested. “I just figured it beats a microwave meal from David’s. And I like to think I’m better company than an empty flat.”
Robert smiled.
“That you are.” He turned to Liv. “But I won’t hog your brother any longer. I do have my charger with me so I’ll just use my data to watch something dodgy on Netflix tonight.”
Liv waved his comment away.
“You’re welcome to him. I’m going to a mate’s tonight for a game marathon anyway.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” Aaron asked. “And what mate? Don’t you have class tomorrow?
“Not until 11. And I’m only going to Jacob’s. It’s just down the road, I’ll be home in 5 minutes.”
“You’re not skipping class tomorrow.” Aaron warned her and she rolled her eyes at him and stuck out her tongue.
“Mother hen.”
“Brat.”
Liv laughed and got up from their table, stealing a chip from Aaron’s plate in the process.
“I though you’d already eaten?”
“I have.” She said matter-of-factly “See you around Robert.” she said and left.
“Right, well, that’s my night sorted then.” Aaron sighed. “Me and the tv… I don’t supposed you want some company with that Netflix marathon you were talking about?”
“Uh sure, but the two of us watching on my phone could get a bit cramped.”
“I’ve got Netflix and a big tv. And beers in the fridge.”
“Throw in some crisps and you’ve got a deal.”
“Done.”
They ended up lounging on the mill sofa together, slagging off the contestants on a gameshow they watched when Netflix failed them and giggling like teenagers at repeats of old sitcoms.
By the time Liv got home around 1AM, they were a sleepy pile on the sofa looking somewhere between deep conversations and deep sleep.
“Shit look at the time.” Robert said after checking the time on his phone. I have to get up for work at 7!”
“Take the day off tomorrow.” Aaron told him. “I’m the boss, I’m giving both of us the day off tomorrow.”
“Aaron likes taking off days that end in Y.” Liv teased but Aaron ignored her.
“I mean it. We’ll take the day off so you can take it easy and get to Leeds to pick Seb up without stressing.”
“Are you sure?” Robert asked and Aaron nodded. “Alright. Thanks.” He said and pulled Aaron in for a hug. “You’re a good mate.”
“And you’re drunk. Go on, go get some sleep.” Aaron replied, hoping the heat he felt on his face didn’t show.
“Yeah. Alright. Sleep is good. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll come introduce Seb.” Robert said and left after wishing both Aaron and Liv a good night.
“Did you seriously invite him over for Netflix and chill?” Liv asked as soon as Robert had closed the door behind him.
“What? No! we just watched tv and had a few beers. That’s all. Nothing happened.”
Liv raised an eyebrow.
“Do you think we’d have been sitting here, fully clothed, if it had?”
“Suppose not.” Liv agreed after a minute. “But you wish it had. You like him.”
“As a mate.” Aaron stressed. “He’s not even into guys.”
“How do you know? Have you asked him?”
“No. But he never mentions it.”
“So? Is it the first thing you tell people when you meet them? Hi I’m Aaron and I like blokes.”
“Of course not.”
“Then how do you know he doesn’t?”
“I just know ok. I’m not having this conversation with you. I’m going to bed.”
The next morning Aaron waited in bed until he heard the front door close and was sure Liv had left for college. He was in no mood to continue their conversation from the night before.
She was right, he didn’t know for sure Robert didn’t like men, but he also didn’t know for sure that he did. They’d talked about exes a bit and Robert had only mentioned women. He’d barely reacted when Aaron had referred to his ex as he and Aaron had counted that as a win. Not even considering Robert’s lack of reaction was because he’d dated men too.
It was nearing midday when Aaron finally dragged himself out of bed and into the shower. He was regretting taking the day off because now he didn’t have work to distract him from his thoughts.
By the time he made it downstairs he was getting quite hungry. Only when he stepped into the kitchen he saw the remnants of Liv’s breakfast. Including an empty cereal box and empty milk carton.
“Great. Thanks Liv.” He muttered to himself and considered ordering food online. But, he told himself, going down to David’s would be quicker and he was pretty hungry.
So he shrugged his jacket on and grabbed his wallet and headed out the door.
He’d only made it halfway to David’s when he saw someone waving to him as they walked towards him down main street.
He recognised the person right away.
“Robert. Hey.” He said when the other man was within earshot.
“Hey, how’s the head this morning?” Robert joked.
“Fine, fine. I was just on my way to David’s to get some breakfast. Liv cleared out the fridge before she left.”
“Breakfast? But it’s lunch time already, right dad?” a voice coming from behind Robert said.
Robert half turned around and Aaron saw the boy he recognised from pictures. Seb.
“Yeah well, some people sleep later than we do so they have breakfast at lunch time.” Robert explained.
Seb nodded and gave Aaron and expectant look.
“You must be Seb.” Aaron said, bending down a little so he was at eye level with the boy. “Your dad talks about you a lot.”
Robert smiled.
“That’s because my kid is just awesome, isn’t he?” he said, putting a hand on Seb’s back. “Seb say hello to my friend Aaron, Aaron this is my son, Sebastian.”
“My name is Seb.” The boy told Aaron as he politely shook his hand. “Do you live here too?”
“Yeah, I live down the road with my sister.” Aaron replied, looking at Robert for help on what he could and couldn’t say.
“Actually Aaron is our new neighbour. We’re going to live next door to him and his sister Liv.” Robert told him.
“Really?” Seb asked Aaron.
“Yep. We’re good neighbours, I promise.” Aaron said, then looked around and bent down a little further as if he wanted to tell Seb some big secret. “Liv plays bad music and she snores though.” He added in a whisper and the three of them laughed.
“We were just on our way home for some lunch, would you like to join us?” Robert offered.
“Daddy’s making pancakes!” Seb added happily.
“Yep.” Robert held up a shopping bag. “Seb thinks he can eat four so I’ll have to bake a lot. We’ll have plenty.”
“Can you have pancakes for breakfast?” Seb asked, looking back and forth between his dad and Aaron.
“Today I think I can.” Aaron agreed and followed the two of them back to the mill.
He was surprised to see the place looking more like a home and less like the standard, straight from a magazine flat he and Liv had turned it into for potential renters.
“When did you do all this?” he asked, looking around.
“I asked Vic to pack some of his and my stuff and the rest is online shopping with next day delivery.”
“Right, right.” Aaron nodded. “You make me feel so lazy. I’ve basically only managed to get out of bed today.”
Robert shrugged.
“I couldn’t sleep so I left early.” He said and started gathering ingredients to make the pancake batter.
Soon the smell of freshly baked pancakes filled the flat and Aaron’s stomach started to rumble.
“I’ve only got syrup and sugar to put on them…” Robert trailed off after putting a plate in front of Aaron as well as Seb.
“That’s fine. I’ll eat anything.” Aaron told him and Seb giggled.
“Anything?” the boy asked and Aaron nodded. “ANYTHING? Even… dog food?”
“Sure. Dogs like it don’t they? So it must be good.” Aaron replied, making Seb laugh even more.
“Do you have a dog?”
“I’m afraid not. I have my sister. She’s enough trouble.” Aaron said and giggled with Seb like they were sharing a secret. “My uncle has a dog though. Called Monty. They live on a farm and they have pigs too.”
“Really? Can we go see them?” Seb asked excitedly.
“Yeah, sure. If that’s ok with your dad.”
“Can we dad? PLEASE?” Seb begged.
“Maybe some other time. It’s impolite to just show up unannounced. And we don’t want to be impolite to Aaron’s family, do we?”
“They won’t mind.” Aaron assured him. “My other uncle lives on a farm too. And they have cows.” He told Seb. “And my cousin is about the same age as you. Maybe you two could be mates.”
“Do they have horses too?” Seb asked.
“He loves horses.” Robert explained. “A friend from school had his birthday party at a riding school last summer and they all got to ride ponies. He’s been asking for a dog and a pony ever since.”
“Horses are cool!”
“Well… my family doesn’t have horses… but my cousin works for someone who does. I’m sure we can work something out for you.”
“YAY!” Seb cheered and turned to his father. “Dad, I like this house.”
“Yeah? Better than aunt Vic’s house?”
Seb nodded.
“Aunty Vic only has a cat. Cats are boring.” He told his father. “Aaron has horses! That’s way better!”