Chapter Text
He'd got the call that morning. Through Chas' excited babble, Aaron only managed to make out the words "engaged" and "wedding" before his mum calmed down enough to tell him that James had proposed. His first thought was, at least one of us has a successful love life, before he packed the last few of his things from his ex's flat and left for the Eurostar.
At least now he didn't have to look for a new place to live.
Now he sat willing the train doors to close with his mind. The seat beside him was empty, the only one in the whole carriage it seemed. There were still another five minutes before the Eurostar was meant to leave, but that still left enough time for some lucky fucker to make it and invade Aaron's personal space.
Quatre minutes, four minutes. Maybe he'd be lucky for once, maybe- or not. Some blonde arsehole was now making his way down the aisle, head bent over his ticket, before he finally made it to where Aaron was sat, glancing at him briefly before reaching up and placing his bag beside Aaron's in the overhead luggage compartment. (And Aaron was only slightly ashamed to admit that his eyes were drawn to where the man's shirt rose up, revealing a strip of skin.)
The man looked down as Aaron hurriedly looked back up and, damn, the guy was attractive. The man's face was flushed and his hair was ruffled. He had clearly ran for the train. Aaron hurriedly tried to think what "sorry for staring" was in French, but before he could speak, the guy beat him to it.
"I don't always look this shit," the stranger stated. "My meeting ran late."
The man was English, and for Aaron who had been living among the French for the last year, it was strange to hear such a familiar accent. The bloke mistook his surprise as misunderstanding and spoke slower when he said, "sorry, do you not speak English?"
Aaron huffed out a laugh. "I do, just didn't expect you to as well."
"Oh." the man laughed and stuck out his hand. "It's nice to meet someone from back home. Robert."
Aaron refrained from rolling his eyes and shook Robert's hand. He had wanted a nice quiet journey, but introductions meant he'd be forced to make some sort of conversation. "Aaron."
The doors that Aaron had been willing to shut finally did, minutes too late, and Robert took his seat next to Aaron.
Unfortunately, Aaron would bet the next two hours won't go as quickly as he would've liked.
*~*~*~*
There was probably just under an hour and a half to go until they reached London, Robert wasn't really keeping track. He'd finished up a couple of last details for the deal he'd made with the estate in Paris, talked with the firm back in London and played a bit of Candy Crush. But now he was bored. It'd been ages since he'd had a proper conversation with someone outside of work, and Aaron was sitting right there. It was obvious he wasn't a chatty person, but Robert was desperate. All his friends at home in London were people he knew at work, all they talked about was work. Robert worked for a company who bought over failing estates and rejuvenated them, gave them a new lease of life. It paid well, and it was rewarding too. His trip to Paris had been to sort out a deal with a French company the firm wanted to partner with, extending their clientèle abroad. It'd been completely successful and Robert couldn't be happier. He'd been promised a promotion following the deal which gave him countless opportunities. He could stay in London, move to any other company location in the UK or, hell, he could even go to the Paris firm if he wanted to.
Robert had spent a lot of the last half an hour or so thinking about it, mulling over the different possibilities. One that kept popping up was the idea to move to the firm in Leeds. He had family up there, his only family. Granted things were a bit...tense with his brother, but his sister was there and his step-mum too. It'd been a long time since he'd seen them. That was his fault though, moving away, taking a job down south. But surely things would be better now, maybe now would be the time...
He had to stop thinking about it, there was plenty of time to make a decision. Robert needed to distract himself before he went crazy.
*~*~*~*
Aaron gazed out of the window as the train hurtled through the north of France. The scenery was breath-taking, he was now starting to wish he'd done a bit more sight seeing in his time abroad. Too late now, he guessed.
They were about half an hour into the journey, in which time Robert had taken two phone calls and had assumed that Aaron turning to face him when his phone rang the first time had been out of interest, not instinct at the sudden noise. "I just closed a big deal for the company I work for," he had boasted with a smirk before answering the phone with a pointed "Robert speaking."
Aaron had turned his head back to the window and that's where he was at now. Watching and thinking. His thoughts ranged from the probable speech he'd have to make at his mum's wedding to the fact that he had to admit that he at least had some eye candy on the journey, even if he wasn't looking at him right then. Subtly avoiding him, really, in the hope that Robert wouldn't try make more conversation. Aaron was tired. And hungry actually, he'd skipped breakfast to make the seven AM train. He was also a little bit sad, to be honest, seeing that he had just broken up with someone. And he guessed he was also a little-
"So what brought you to France?" Robert said suddenly, causing Aaron to frown and turn to look at him.
"That's your business, is it?"
"You being the only person I have to talk to on this train makes it my business, yes," Robert raised an eyebrow at him. "Unless you were there escaping from the law, in that case I don't want to know, for my own sake."
Aaron scoffed. "I moved with an ex."
"Why?"
"Eh, because I hated them?" Aaron's voice was laced with pure sarcasm.
"Them? Male, I'm assuming, then?" Robert looked smug; Aaron wanted to deck him.
"Yeah." Aaron gave Robert a cold look, "You got a problem?"
Robert's eyes widened only slightly, unnoticeable if you weren't focussing, but Aaron was, because he wanted to know if he was sitting beside a homophobic ass for the next hour and a half.
"No. I've had to-"
"Um, excuse me?" They were interrupted by two stewards, one male, one female, manning the food trolley. "Any hot drinks, sandwiches, snacks?" The woman was directing the question to both of them, while obviously staring at Robert. She started batting her eyelids, but Aaron interrupted. He was starving and he wasn't missing out on food just so Robert could get some stranger's number.
"I'll have a ham sandwich and a tea please, thanks."
The man at the other end of the trolley started making Aaron's tea while the stewardess took his money, almost missing it because she wouldn't take her eyes off of the man next to him.
"What about you?" she asked Robert, her French accent strong. Aaron had noticed Robert'd been pleased with her flirting at first, now he was starting to look a little creeped out by her staring. Like, sure, Aaron knew Robert was hot, but he seriously didn't think staring for that long was necessary.
"Yeah, tea as well, thanks."
Tea in hand and sandwich on his lap, Aaron was sitting back to watch the show. It was funny, watching Robert's facial expressions as the girl took out a pen and starting writing on a napkin, before wrapping it around the paper cup and handing it to Robert with a smile.
They waited in silence, Robert not moving the napkin until the stewards were in the next carriage. The minute the electric doors closed behind them, Aaron cracked up.
"Ooooh let's see what she wrote." He teased, smiling harder as Robert gave him a look.
"It's just 'Call me, Rebecca x' and then a phone number," Robert rolled his eyes, crumpling up the napkin and placing it on his fold down table.
"You already taken?" Aaron asked, bemused. He'd half expected Robert to pull out his phone and call the girl immediately to suggest a quickie in the Eurostar toilets.
"No," Robert smiled at him, looking pleased with himself all of a sudden. "She was hot, but the guy was hotter," Robert stated with an over exaggerated shrug. "And I don't settle for second best."
Aaron could almost feel the light bulb go off above his head as he started to understand what Robert was saying, and why he was saying it. Aaron felt like a bit of an arse for assuming he was homophobic, but only the teeny, tiniest amount.
"So, you're what, bi then?" Aaron asked, ignoring Robert's smug face as he watched Aaron piece everything together.
"Yep. And you are...?"
"Gay." Fuck, it felt so easy to say it now.
"Cool."
Aaron finally took a bit of his sandwich and Robert took a sip of his tea, a comfortable silence setting over them.
*~*~*~*
Well, the journey had been interesting so far, Robert thought to himself. He'd been hit on and had come out to a somewhat grumpy stranger. Not your average train journey.
He looked towards Aaron who was staring out the window as he had been the majority of the time. Robert watched him as he pondered what to say, how to start a conversation.
Aaron was, hands down, one of the most attractive men- people- Robert had ever met. And he'd met a lot of people. Robert could admit that, he appreciated good looking people. And he was snarky and sarcastic, pretty much Robert's exact type. Someone to keep him on his toes.
"So," he began, getting Aaron's attention. "What'd you do for a living?"
"In France I was a bartender, but I was a mechanic before that." Aaron sat up a bit straighter, to Robert's relief. He took it as a sign that Aaron was actually going to give in and talk to him.
"I was a mechanic once!" Robert grinned excitedly, inexplicably delighted that they had something in common, something to talk about.
"Yeah?" a small smile broke out on Aaron's face, and Robert's grew wider.
"Yeah, it wasn't for a great length of time, but I've always had a love for cars."
"Oh, mate. Wait 'till I tell you about this Aston Martin we had in for a flat tyre..."
The conversation somehow moved from there to Liverpool FC to everything and nothing. The grumpy Aaron he had seen earlier had loosened up, become more animated, and Robert loved every second of it. Aaron was just, incredible. He was funny, and witty- he had Robert in stitches more than once- but he was also passionate. In the space of forty-five minutes they'd had about three arguments and six 'heated debates'.
And as Aaron told Robert about the dog he used to own, the insistent butterflies in his stomach fluttered in time to the pounding of his heart.
*~*~*~*
Aaron didn't know what had gotten into him. He was having a conversation with a stranger he'd only just met. Like, a full on conversation. Aaron didn't usually do that.
Then again, Robert wasn't what he expected. He was charming and funny. They had things in common, he was so easy to talk to, and argue with.
Aaron was enjoying the train ride ten million times more than he thought he would. And he'd smiled more than he thought he would too.
"So where are you headed?" Robert was asking now, and Aaron didn't hesitate to reply.
"Just back to the village where my mum lives, the place that was home before I moved away. I don't know if you would've heard of it, it's near Leeds though. Emmerdale?"
Robert straightened up as if he'd been given an electric shock. "Emmerdale?!"
"You...you've heard of it?" Robert's reaction was puzzling Aaron. I mean, sure, they have the odd serial killer and explosion every once in a while but it wasn't that bad-
"That's where I grew up! That's- that's where my family live!" The excitement on Robert's face was almost childlike.
"You're kidding, mate." Aaron couldn't believe it, what's the chance of meeting someone from Emmerdale on the Eurostar?
"No, really! You'll probably know them. Diane? That's my step-mum. And my sister Victoria and-"
"No fucking way, you're Robert Sugden?"
"The one and only." Robert's cockiness made Aaron roll his eyes, but wow. This situation was fucking insane.
"You'd probably know my mum then, Chas? She own's half the pub with Diane."
"Yes! Yeah, of course. That'd make you Aaron Livesy then, right? Fuck, the last time I remember seeing you, you were, like, thirteen or something. Small world right?"
"Yeah," Aaron's voice was reduced to a whisper as he tried to take it all in. Robert sat watching him, as he was watching Robert. "Fuck."
Robert's smile grew again, making it obvious to Aaron that another thought had passed through his head. "So, that's where you're headed? Emmerdale?"
Aaron nodded. "Me too!" Robert said excitedly, "I'm heading up for a visit. I- uh, I didn't leave things too well, and there's a chance I could be moving back up there for work. I just want to make sure everything could work out, you know."
Robert's sad smile pulled at Aaron's heart strings. He knew all about the Sugden's history, nothing was a secret in Emmerdale, and even though Robert was in the wrong, Aaron couldn't help feel sorry for him. From one screw-up to another, he could relate.
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Robert gave Aaron a grateful smile. "But wow," he continued, "I can't believe you're Robert Sugden."
The sound of Robert's laughter filled his ears and warmed his heart.
*~*~*~*
Finally making it off the train in a rainy London, they made their way from St. Pancras to King's Cross where they had almost forty minutes until the train to Leeds. Robert headed off to the toilets and to "pick up his ticket" or something, Aaron didn't dwell too much on it. They'd swapped numbers on the walk over, so Robert found Aaron again with no problem, both of them settling down to wait in a cosy café, resuming their easy conversation.
Though this time it was different, they weren't strangers any more.