Disclaimer - Characters and original story-lines belong to emmerdale and eastenders.
A/N - I wanted to make a crossover fic between Aaron and Ben, because I think those two characters are very similar, similar personalities and backgrounds..so thought I would be fun two put the two in one fic. Hope you liked it. Please leave a review if you like.
Aaron Dingle and his best mate Adam Barton decided to have a lads night out in Leeds. Adam had to beg Aaron to go. He hated seeing his best mate so down and miserable because of what happened between him and his ex Robert. Aaron didn't deserve that at all, Adam thought. In prison, struggling to cope as it is and then to come out and find out your partner cheated on you with his ex-girlfriend and got her pregnant! The dingle man didn't cope very well with the outcome, but he's getting better. He was still walking about with his face tripping him right enough. But he needed a night out, away from the village, away from everyone. After the twentieth time of Adam bringing it up, he finally gave in and agreed basically to just shut up his mate.
After a few pre-drinks at the woolie, Adam's phone starts buzzing "Drink up, taxi's here"
They both down the remains of their pints of larger and head outside. Chas shouts over from the bar, wishing her son a goodnight. She was so happy that he was finally going back to being himself again and not being cooped up in the house all day.
The boys are outside the club scene in the busy city of Leeds. They can't make up their minds on which place to go to.
"Why do we need to go to a gay bar?" Aaron moaned.
"I thought you'd prefer to go to one"
"I don't care where we go mate, just pick a place!" Aaron feels a forced nudge to his elbow, he looks up and sees the bloke walking away from them, mid height, short black hair and wearing a leather-jacket. "Oi, watch it, will ya!" Aaron shouts. The bloke doesn't turn round but he lifts his arm up and gives Aaron the finger.
"Charming" Adam mutters.
The lads finally decide to go the gay bar called Ollie's. Adam could see his mate isn't really enjoying himself, he looked miles away. He knows this must not be easy for him. But he is trying to keep his mind off of it, trying and failing by the looks of things.
"where are ya? No, no ain't, because I'm standing right outside it! Hurry up Ben!"
Aaron watched the tall ginger lad hang up his phone. He looked rather annoyed. The ginger bloke noticed the two lads looking at him.
"Typical him" he points to his phone "Drags me away from London, invites me out and doesn't show up!"
"Boyfriend trouble?" Adam asks.
The ginger haired man just laughs "Nah, brother trouble" He spots his brother behind Adam.
"Finally!" Where have ya been?!" he snaps.
Ben now at his brothers side, Aaron notices hes wearing the exact same leather jacket as the one the bloke was wearing when he pushed past him.
"I got lost alright?!" Ben spat out
The red haired man laughed. Ben noticed the two lads standing next to his best mate. "aw, bruv did you bring me a present?" the dark haired man winks at Adam, making the farmer feel slighting unconformable.
"I'm straight!" Adam stated.
"He's winding you up" he laughs. "I'm Jay, the comedian here is Ben"
"Adam, this is Aaron"
Aaron face isn't amused. "We've met, your "bruv" flipped us the bird"
Ben laughs and walks away from the lads, heading into the bar himself.
"Sorry about him, he's not exactly people's person" Jay explains.
The lads split up once in the bar. Jay and Ben go to one table and Aaron and Adam go to another.
Jay and Adam are reunited again as they both waiting to be served at the bar.
"Sorry about him earlier, I feel like I need to apologize, every time he opens his mouth" the red haired man states.
"Don't worry about it mate"
"What yous having?"
"two pints of larger, cheers mate" Adam smiles. "You don't look like brothers"
Jay smiles "We ain't blood related, but we're family, it's a long story"
Adam just gives him a nod.
"He's been through a lot recently, he left London for a fresh start, but I reckon he's still suffering from what happened"
Adam now curious. "What happened?"
Jay looks over at Ben. He knew Ben would kill him if he heard what he was about to say. "He lost his ex, first proper bloke he loved. Didn't end well"
A light bulb suddenly went off in Adam's head "My mate, Aaron went through something similar a good few years back. Proper destroyed him.
The two lads spent a lot longer at the bar than they should. If their best mates knew what they were discussing it would all kick off. Ben and Aaron aren't exactly the type of blokes to talk about their feelings. Especially to strangers.
Jay goes over to Ben. "We're gonna sit with them" Jay points over to Adam's table. Ben looks over to see Adam telling his mate the same thing. Aaron face scrunches up.
"Why?" Ben asks.
"Better than you sitting here alone, with your face looking like that, come on!" Jay now walking away. Ben takes a deep sigh and follows.
Ten minuets have passed, but it felt like an hour with the awkward silence filling around the table. Aaron staring at his pint glass, refusing to make eye contact.
Adam breaks the silence. "So, Jay says you have your own garage, Aaron was a mechanic"
Aaron gives his best mate a look, to why he's brought his name into it"
"Was?" Ben asked.
"We own a scrap yard now" Aaron answers.
"Exciting" Ben says sarcastically while he takes a sip of his whisky.
Another twenty minutes goes by. Jay and Adam are doing most of the talking. Jay talking about Ben and Adam talking about Aaron, acting like the two guys weren't with them.
Adam volunteers to get the next round in, jay insists on helping him, leaving the two brooding lads alone.
"YA know they're trying to set us up yeah?" Aaron spits
"Oh yeah? Captain Obvious. What gave it away?" His smart remark just comes off as bitterness.
"I was just saying" Aaron rolls his eyes.
"Look, no offence, I am sure have a dazzling personalty, but I ain't interested"
"And you think I'm interested in you?" Aaron scoffs
Ben smirks "so why do you need set up then? Bad breakup?"
"something like that" Aaron expression changes. His face softens, sadness in his eyes. He stares at his finger, were his wedding ring once was. "What about you? Why does your mate feel the need to set you up?"
The dark haired man rolls his eyes. "He thinks I'm wasting my life thinks about time I should settle for one bloke and stop with the random hookups. He just worries, thinks I'll never get over P-" Ben stops. His name still left an ache in his heart.
"bad break up?" Aaron repeats Ben's question to him.
Ben doesn't answer. He stares down at his empty glass. "There taking their time ain't they?"
Aaron nods. "Sorry, if you don't want to talk about your ex, I get it"
"I hate that word. Ex. I mean, are they your ex if you were together when they died? I mean, they die but you weren't split up, does that automatically mean they become your ex?" Ben's eyes are still focused on his glass.
Aaron was lost for words. He knew exactly what Ben meant. "I think they just become someone who meant a lot to you and even though they aren't here anymore, they are still a big part of you and they will always be with ya"
Ben looks up, his eyes now locked on to Aaron. "Coming from experience?" he stared with curious eyes.
Aaron was just about to answer when Jay and Adam are now back at the table with new sets of drinks.
"You took your time" Ben stated.
"Queue took ages"
Ben looks over to the empty bar behind them. "Yeah, looks it" he said sarcastically.
It comes to the end of the night. The four boys decided to go for a kebab before heading home. Ben and Aaron are outside waiting on their mates getting the food.
"It gets easier" Aaron breaks the silence
"Don't, I've heard it all before"
"It does though. The first bloke I'd been with, first guy I -" Aaron stops and changes what he was going to say "He died years ago now. Jackson, his name was Jackson. Don't know what he saw in me to be honest, I wasn't exactly the cuddly type back then. But when he died, I thought I'd never be happy again and that I would never feel that kind of love again, but I did, he'll always be apart of me and I will always love him but it's just a different type of feeling now and it does get better"
Ben smiles "You ain't all bad, for a Northerner"
Aaron laughs. They're eyes meet. Staring at one another longer than expected. In that moment they connect with one another and they understand one another. Ben takes a step closer, Aaron body moves forward, they are now inches away, Ben stares at the mechanic's lips. Aaron hesitates, his emotions are now stable at the moment and the events with Robert are still raw in his mind, but for a brief moment, he is lost in Ben's eyes and finds the need for some companionship, to not feel so lonely even if it's just for one moment. Ben places his hand on Aaron cheek, he leans in and places his lips on to his. The kiss is soft with no pressure.
The kiss is interrupted by the voices of Jay and Adam. The boys separate and look in the direction of their mates.
Adam beams smile at his mate, Aaron rolls his eyes.
The night comes to an end, Aaron and Adam head to the taxi rank to make their journey back to the village. Ben suggested if the mechanic was ever in Newcastle to look him up, but he knew, deep down he would never see the Cockney lad again. But he felt he needed to meet him and he was glad that he did. They were both alike with similar backgrounds and for that one night, he had forgotten about all the drama that had happened and the drama that is still to come…