Work Text:
ROBERT WEEK DAY 1
She said yes. Not only did she say yes but she seemed genuinely happy about it. She even made a request. He couldn't believe how easy it had been, not after everything that's happened. He expected at least some resistance, expected to have to fight for it, to make her see sense. He expected to make her believe he loved Aaron like nothing else. Only he didn't have to, not even Paddy had an objection.
After Paddy walked away clearing his throat he took a seat at the table where he used to sit for breakfast and dinners so long ago. It had not been his home for so long but he still remembers it like yesterday. He remembers the good times and the bad. He remembers suggesting to Aaron they get married in Vegas in the staircase just feet away from where he sat. He remembers Aaron fondly playing with the coin they had flipped to make the decision right in the chair he was sitting on. It took so long for them to get where they are now, but none of that matters, all that matters is that they made it. A smile spreads across his face and he stands to make his way over to David's, he's been gone longer than he had planned on, but he was too buzzed to go back home in that state. He knew it would have been written all over his face, he knew Aaron would suss him out.
"You still here?" Chas asked as she walked back through the door.
"Yeah, just...thinking."
"About?" She asked.
"Just...I dunno, everything, this place, how it felt...still feels like home."
Chas couldn't help but smile, a smile so wide it made Robert a bit insecure. He still wasn't sure why she was so happy about them, about him.
"You know." He said before stopping himself and shaking his head as if telling her to pay him no mind.
"Oh no you don't, luv." She immediately said noticing his hesitation. "Spill it."
He let out breath he didn't realize he had been holding on to and gave in. "I was kind of expecting you to say no."
"Now why would I go and do that?"
"Look, Chas, I know you hate me and I know you only put up with me for Aaron..." He started before she quickly cut him off.
"I don't hate ya, Robert."
She said it so quickly without hesitation that it caught him off guard. He almost couldn't find the words to reply.
"I...I know I messed up and you have every right to hate me."
Chas slowly made her way to him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug.
"Look, I know we certainly got off on the wrong foot and we've both said and done things we regret, but I don't hate ya...I mean, yeah I did at first, log ago." She said softly chuckling. "But I don't hate ya now."
"After Rebecca.."
"I can't pretend to know...to understand everything you two have been through together, but the reason I've been so hard on you, since then is because, well...I was disappointed, Robert. I knew you were better than that. Despite of everything you're good, deep down you're good. I can see that. I see it in the way you love my boy, I see it in how much you're always there for him. And as much as I may have fought it, you made me love you. So yeah, it broke my heart when you told me because even I could see that you and Aaron belonged together." She said as tears gathered at the edge of her eyes remembering the bad times
"I'm so sorry, Chas." Robert said as he gently squeezed her in his arms giving into the feeling taking a hold of him. A feeling he had nearly forgotten. The same feeling he had when Sarah would squeeze him in his arms when he had a bad day, when someone had upset him, when Andy would get more attention than him from Jack. The feeling of love only a mother could give.
"You just keep your eye on the prize, yeah?" She asked. "You make sure that my boy is happy. It's all I want. For him to be happy. For you to be happy."
"I will do. I promise."