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“I love you so much” Aaron sighs against Robert’s lips and Robert completely freezes.
The atmosphere between them is suddenly crackling and for a moment Robert actually forgets to breathe. The grin he had on his face falls away, his mouth going slack and his eyes staring at Aaron in disbelief. His heart is pounding in his chest and there’s a ringing in his ears. For a second he worries that this is a dream but the expression on Aaron’s face is something even his lovesick mind cannot dream up.
His boyfriend is blushing, a faint red tint lightening up his cheeks. But where in the past Aaron would have shut down and built up a wall around himself after such a confession, now his face is open and soft. It’s the expression of a man who is not ashamed of confessing to and avowing for his feelings.
Robert’s breath catches a second time once he realizes what this means. Of course he has been aware that Aaron’s trust in him has slowly but surely been restored. If that weren’t the case Aaron would have never agreed to give Rob a second chance. But this is different. This is Aaron letting the last of his walls fall down around his heart, Aaron being completely open with Robert and putting himself and his feelings all out there. This is Aaron trusting Robert again. Trusting Robert to take care of his in the past so abused heart and trusting Robert not to take advantage of and use Aaron’s feelings for him against Aaron.
Robert is pretty sure there are tears welling up in his eyes but if there is one person he has never been ashamed to cry around, it’s Aaron. Especially when he is crying tears of joy. He awkwardly tries to clear his throat but the huge lump that has been building up in his throat ever since he heard Aaron utter those three magical words won’t disappear.
“I love you too.” He manages to breathe out and really, it’s more gasping than talking. Aaron’s eyes go soft and the tension in his shoulders that was caused by Robert’s silence and his general reaction falls away.
The slight worry lines around Aaron’s eyes disappear as his whole face relaxes. Robert is certain that the love shining through Aaron’s eyes is evenly matched by his own expression.
They are still sitting close from where they were kissing a few minutes ago, wrapped up in each other while relaxing on the couch after a long day at work. Robert’s hands fell away when Aaron confessed his love for him, the shock making him unable to control his own reaction. Now he raises them back up to Aaron’s face, cradling the so beloved features in his hands.
“You have no idea how happy I am right now.” He whispers, leaning in even closer to Aaron but keeping his eyes firmly fixed on his boyfriend’s. Aaron scoffs slightly and a grin takes over his face.
“It’s actually pretty obvious, you sap.” He answers and raises his own hands to brush away the wetness underneath Robert’s eyes, the remains of the tears Robert couldn’t help but let fall.
He is still smiling, relaxed and clearly happy and Robert isn’t sure what is causing him greater joy, the fact that Aaron told him he loves him or the overwhelming happiness radiating from Aaron’s body. Robert lives for the times Aaron is happy like this, carefree and, at least for the moment, unbothered by the demons of his past.
He grins and slowly rubs his nose against his boyfriend’s. “You made me wait quite a long time to hear it again.” He teases and Aaron lets out a happy laugh.
“Be content with what you’re given.” Aaron chides in feigned exasperation. Robert only grins at him and finally closes the gap between them again.
It’s really more both of them trying to press their lips against each other’s than real kissing due to the huge grins on both of their faces.
“Mhhm, I love you.” Aaron hums again and this time Robert doesn’t freeze up. Instead, he deepens the kiss, lets the thumb of his left hand stroke over Aaron’s beard while his right hand buries itself in Aaron’s short hair. His boyfriend took a shower after he got home from work and didn’t gel his hair down afterwards; a fact for which Robert is tremendously grateful right now because it means he can run his hands through Aaron’s hair as much as he wants to.
Aaron’s hands have wandered down to Robert’s hips and Robert can feel a tug as Aaron is trying to pull him closer. He huffs out a laugh and can’t help but break their kiss by grinning when Aaron answers him with an annoyed growl.
“Robbie,” Aaron grumbles in a mixture of annoyance and whining. Warmth spreads through Robert’s chest at hearing the new nickname and he is pretty sure he actually giggles. He would be embarrassed about that if he weren’t so happy.
“Liv is gonna come home soon.” He reminds Aaron but his boyfriend is still tugging at his clothes, trying to pull him even closer. “Aaron.” He tries again to get his boyfriend’s attention.
Aaron groans but finally relents and pulls away a bit. They’re still close though, always close ever since they reunited, gravitating around each other like orbits in the universe, always pulled towards one another.
It’s still quite rare for them to be like this, so open with each other in a way that is even more intimate than when they’re physically entwined. Too much has happened in the past for them to just be able to be completely open around each other constantly. But they have learned to read each other’s body language and nowadays more and more often they allow themselves to let their guards down, to let the other truly see them. It’s enormous in its significance and sometimes it still scares them a little how they finally manage to let the other so close to them, to be completely themselves around each other.
Neither has ever felt like they were able to do that with anyone else, not in the past and not in the present, and each of them has enough issues about trust and being true to themselves that those seem impossible to tackle individually, let alone together. But somehow they have managed to fit themselves together, two pieces broken by events and circumstances in their past being a perfect match for each other.
Rob feels heavy with the gravitas of the moment and for a second he wishes they could stay like this forever, just the two of them sitting on the old couch in their newly moved into apartment. But that would mean not getting to witness the events yet to come and if there is one thing Robert is certain about in his life it’s that he loves Aaron Dingle with all his heart and wants to spend the rest of his life with him. It’s way too early to be thinking about marriage, a topic they haven’t even talked about yet. But in this moment Robert has never felt happier or more content and he knows with all his heart that he will spent the rest of his life trying to be as close to Aaron as the other man will allow him.
So with one last kiss to the lips that have been filling his dreams for several years now, Robert heaves himself up off the couch and offers Aaron a hand. Without considering or shrugging Robert’s help off, Aaron takes it and lets himself be pulled up. Hand in hand they walk into the kitchen to start preparing dinner. And if they don’t stop grinning even after Liv has teased them endlessly about their goofy and stupidly in love expressions, well then that just proves that Aaron has finally allowed himself to be happy with Robert; and in the end, that’s what both of them want the most.