Jackson was lounged out on the sofa at Smithy Cottage, he was watching a program about forest wildlife, which to be honest couldn't interest him less but he was waiting for Aaron so he guessed that he didn't mind too much.
It was 6 in the evening, both of them had finished work and were intending to go back to Jackson's place for the night but Aaron had had a pretty hectic day and had finished up covered in oil and grease, he'd wanted to shower first.
At first Aaron had wanted Jackson to wait for him in his bedroom and whilst Jackson had wished it was because Aaron wanted to get up close and personal, he knew it was because he didn't wanted Paddy talking to him - Aaron was incredibly uneasy about anyone knowing any details about of his life, even his own family. Jackson had reasoned that Paddy wasn't even in at the moment and that there was a TV downstairs to keep him occupied. Even though Aaron denied that this was the reason he had conceded in the end, which is how Jackson found himself alone in the living room, learning about the feeding habits of beavers.
He'd made himself as comfortable as he felt he should considering he'd not spent much time in the house – he never treated a boyfriend's home like it was his own until he'd at least had dinner with the family. Although with Aaron he couldn't imagine when that would be.
They had been together for 3 weeks now and whilst there were lots of constant little mines that Jackson had to avoid when dealing with Aaron, everything was going well. Jackson was head over heels stupid for the guy and he didn't care who knew it. Not that he was one to be overly public in his displays of affection – he'd always been very conservative, and whilst he was proud of his sexuality he also knew that it could cause unwanted attention, right time and place and all that. But however conservative Jackson was he had to double it for Aaron's sensibility which was frustrating as hell but eventually, Jackson hoped, worth it.
He was sat, relaxed and had a coffee in his hand and the last thing he expected was for Paddy to walk through the surgery door into the living room, when Paddy saw Jackson he froze as if he'd found a polar bear in the dessert.
"Hi." Jackson smiled awkwardly "Aaron's in the shower." And he made to straighten up and look less like he was treating the place like a second home. Paddy was quick to assure him.
"No please its fine." And Jackson lowered himself again; it didn't take long for paddy to get over the shock.
"You stopping here?" Paddy had asked hopefully – you could see it in Paddy's face, he was so proud of Aaron just for the simple act of letting Jackson into his family's home. Jackson felt bad because if Aaron had had any idea that Paddy was going to be home, he'd never have allowed Jackson here.
"No back to mine."
Paddy seemed a bit deflated "Oh, well just so you know I'm on my way out for the evening – gonna play Xbox at Marlon's." Marlon was another relative of Aaron's, although he couldn't work out how; the village was overrun with them.
"Ok, I'll see what Aaron says." He knew what Aaron would say but he wanted to appease Paddy.
"Ok great, well go ahead and make any food you want and there are beers in the fridge." Paddy said eagerly
Jackson nodded and smiled "Have a nice evening."
"I will." Paddy said still beaming and when he left Jackson shock his head exasperated, only in Aaron's world would it be a big deal for his boyfriend to sit on his couch for ten minutes whilst he showered.
Paddy had not been gone thirty seconds when he heard Aaron walking down the stairs and when he appeared he looked a lot cleaner than when Jackson last saw him, he was wearing a T- shirt and a pair of jeans.
Jackson wolf whistled and Aaron blushed before rolling his eyes.
"You dressing up for me?" he asked, flirting.
"Shut up." This was the thing about Aaron; you couldn't call him on any gesture or effort he made because it turned him incredibly uncomfortable.
"I'll just grab some beers and then we can be off."
"Paddy said he was out for the evening with Marlon, said we could stay here."
Aaron had been in the door way about to step up into the kitchen but he'd stopped and Jackson could hear him turn back.
"He was here?" Jackson knew in Aaron's voice how anxious he was at that news.
"Yep," responded Jackson, he hadn't turned to look at Aaron, reinforcing the fact that it was no big deal. "But you're not bothered about that, remember?"
"Yeah I know," Aaron replied annoyed
"Great." And there was a pause, which Jackson knew meant that Aaron was building to something.
"Can we still go back to your?" he asked softly.
Jackson sighed deciding that he wasn't going to make an issue of it, all he wanted was a nice chilled out evening with his boyfriend and if that meant that they had to go back to his then fine.
"Yeah sure." He turned to Aaron smiling reassuringly and then Aaron disappeared into the kitchen and Jackson returned to his beaver show. When he returned a few seconds later he had a 4 pack of bear in one hand and his shoes in the other, he plonked himself by Jackson to put them on.
Jackson was immediately hit by fresh smell of soap tinged with Aaron's natural scent, Aaron always smelt amazing, even after a day at work when Aaron was all sweaty, Jackson just couldn't get enough of the smell, and he even noticed it on his pillows. He leaned in closer to Aaron and before Aaron noticed, Jackson starting kissing his neck.
Aaron moved away shocked
"Jackson" he hissed, looking around "This is my couch!"
"So?" Replied Jackson evenly. "We've done a lot worse on mine." And then he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Aaron blushed and looked away from Jackson "Yeah and were on our own there."
"Yeah and we're on our own here….." Aaron looked at him like he was out of his mind
"I'm not trying to give you a blow job." And Aaron's eye's widened further "It was just a kiss." But Jackson decided to leave it; he threw up his hands in surrender and turned back to the TV.
Aaron took a minute to compose himself and finish putting his shoes on. "I'm ready now."
"Yeah, let me just finish watching this." Aaron looked at him annoyed and stopped to see what it was.
"It's a program about beavers"
"Yeah I know, it's really interesting." Jackson remained looking at the screen, trying not to smile; he was enjoying winding Aaron up – his little revenge.
"Jackson!"
Jackson turned to him; he'd had an idea and decided to barter with Aaron "Ok, I'll do you a deal. We can go now if…. you kiss me on this couch." That hadn't gone down well; Aaron crossed his arms and scowled at him.
"Forget it."
Jackson laughed "What's the problem?"
Aaron huffed and looked the over way, still with his arms crossed, he was gently shaking his head and chewing his bottom lip, a gestured which showed to Jackson that Aaron was more nervous than annoyed.
In all honesty Jackson wasn't quite sure what the big deal was, but Aaron was like this before every step forward they took. He would resist, kicking and screaming and for every new thing in their relationship Aaron acted like he couldn't cross that line. And today it was making out in his home –where the potential for his family to walk in on them existed.
"Aaron, Paddy's gone out."
"Yeah and so are we, come on." Jackson just sat there, cocking an eyebrow at him.
"Fine", said Aaron after he realised that Jackson wasn't going to budge, he paused and licked his lips nervously before leaning in and giving Jackson a peck on the lips.
This was not what Jackson had in mind.
"Who am I your Grandmother?"
"My Grandmothers dead,"
Jackson looked at him, eyes widening "Nice, remind me, why am I dating such a charming guy?"
"Cause you're a loser." Aaron shot back, smiling and rolling his eyes before pushing him slightly. Jackson smiled, knowing that he'd won and pushed back a little harder, and before Aaron had the chance to come back, he learned right into Aaron's personal space. Aaron leaned back further out of Jackson's reach but this caused him to be leaning right back against the arm of the couch almost lying down, Jackson had him trapped.
Jackson moved over him, slightly bracing one hand so as not to put his full weight on Aaron and rather than protest Aaron seemed to be enjoying the situation. Jackson then reached up with one hand and covered it over Aaron's mouth, he had some instruction's to give and he didn't want Aaron to interrupt.
"Now, Mr Livesy, this will be the very first time that we will have a full on make out session on a couch in your home." Aaron mumbled something beneath his hand and Jackson moved it slightly allowing Aaron to speak
"What about the first time I kissed you?" Jackson paused, thinking.
"For the sake of this moment, this is the very first time that we will have a full on make out session on a couch in your home." Jackson could feel Aaron smile beneath his hand.
"Now, I want you to make it good and I want to be smiling about this for hours." Aaron was just looking at Jackson bemused, Jackson knew that Aaron didn't know what to make of him half the time.
Aaron mumbled again. "Your such a loser."
"Yeah." And Jackson didn't want to waste time disagreeing because Aaron was wriggling beneath him and this was one of the most fun moments they'd had since getting together.
Jackson leaned his head down, touching his nose to Aaron's before moving in to kiss him. It started slow and soft but then to Jackson's delight Aaron reached his hand up to Jacksons face and deepened the kiss, which turned the situation from being light and fun to something more intense. Jackson could feel himself getting aroused and had he been in his flat at this moment he would have slipped his hand up Aaron's t-shirt and started stroking his sides.
And that was how they lay, with Jackson covering Aaron and Aaron kissing him within an inch of his life. Aaron shifted slightly beneath him and though not deliberate Jackson ended up slipping between Aarons thighs so that there crutches were touching. Jackson new he was in trouble now because he was even more aroused.
Of course it had to come to an end at some point, pretty soon the kiss would have ended, they would have straightened up and then headed to Jackson's van, but what neither of them expected was that it would be because Paddy had opened the front door and walked straight into the living room. Marlon was with him.
Jackson had never seen two more shocked expressions, they'd been in the middle of a bit of banter but it had stopped abruptly as soon as they stepped into the room. Aaron had stopped frozen for a second before scrambling to push Jackson off him.
From Paddy's point of view, the whole thing was probably a bit crazy thought Jackson. Here in his living room was his teenage charge, who doesn't let anyone see a side of him other than one that's hard and moody and fierce - being groped by another man. Since coming out Aaron had worked hard to maintain an illusion of himself to his family and friends – and that had been stripped away in a second.
Jackson was the first to recover.
"You alright guys?" he smiled; Aaron had straightened up and was facing away from the pair.
"Yeah, just forgot the Xbox game." Paddy started awkwardly moving around the couch towards the TV, were the box lay. As Paddy moved towards Aaron's line of sight Jackson noticed that Aaron turned his head away, his face was flushed and he was tensing his jaw - this was not good.
Jackson had twisted on the sofa, casually draping his arm over the back trying to look as casual as possible, this was a sharp contrast to Marlon who was hoping from one foot the other and smiling manically to disguise the awkwardness of the moment.
"You two staying here then?" Paddy asked following Jackson lead and not making a big deal of the situation.
"No, were going back to mine."
Aaron had rested his head in his hands, making no attempt to join the conversation.
"Right well you have a nice evening." And he bustled Marlon out the door.
Jackson sighed and leaned back against the sofa, Aaron still hadn't moved. If this had been a normal person they would have laughed embarrassed at the situation and probably carried on for kissing for another five minutes before leaving. But Aaron wasn't a normal person and he didn't know how to have normal reactions.
"Please don't kick off" Jackson said softly, he tried putting his hand to the small of Aaron's back but Aaron jumped up away from him.
Aaron was up and around the back of the sofa "I wanna stay here tonight."
"Ok"
"Alone."
Jackson closed his eyes, trying to stay calm. "Why?"
"I didn't want to do that!" Aaron hissed, his body was tense and his fists were bunched up by his sides.
"Yes you did – you don't do anything you don't want to remember?"
"Get out!"
Jackson was trying really hard not to get caught up, he wasn't prone to shouting matches and dramatic stand offs but since dating Aaron it seemed to be a regular event.
"Fine" he said evenly "you know where I'll be." And Jackson got up and walked out with as minimum fuss as he could achieve. He got in the van and drove off not feeling as calm as he appeared.
It had taken a lot of energy not to get himself wound up during the journey home. After all he knew what to expect of Aaron, he knew that Aaron couldn't do anything without losing his head over it, but not for the first time Jackson wondered why he bothered.
He arrived back at the flat hungry and decided to open one of the frozen pizza's that he had intended to cook for him and Aaron that evening. Turning on the oven to heat it up, he flung himself onto the couch and turned on the TV. The beaver program was still on and it made Jackson laugh humourlessly before rubbing his head furiously, Aaron should be here.
He hated how much he wanted Aaron to be there, he hated how much he wanted Aaron. But that was the thing because every time he saw him and in spite of Aaron's ways Jackson wanted him more and more. He had never fallen for someone so hard and whilst it was too soon to be thinking like this Jackson new he was falling in love. Why is it always the bad ones…?
Half an hour later, the pizza was cooked; he was going to stick on a DVD and slob in front of the telly. A message tone interrupted him. It was from Aaron.
"Sorry. X"
Jackson looked at the message for a minute, it didn't matter that Aaron was sorry because even if he wasn't Jackson would have forgiven him.
He scrolled down to Aaron's name and hit dial, Aaron answered after the first ring but was silent on the other end, Jackson was going to have to begin like always, but he didn't want to talk over the phone.
"You coming round?"
There was an uncomfortable pause before Aaron spoke "I'm outside."
And Jackson smiled to himself before abandoning his pizza; he made for the buzzer to let him up. He opened the door to let a sheepish Aaron in who had his hands stuffed deep into his pockets and wouldn't look Jackson in the face.
Jackson leaned against his wall, he folded his arms and waited – he would not speak first. Aaron toed a piece of carpet that had begun to fray, still not looking at Jackson. He took a deep breath
"I'm sorry –". He begun looking up at Jackson "I over reacted again."
Jackson was pleased about the admission but he wasn't about to make light off it – this was a big deal for Aaron.
"I always overreact; I don't know why I do it." And Jackson, who had been stood by the wall tense, relaxed a bit and smiled at him.
"It's ok, let's forget it."
"I don't want to forget about it cause…." Aaron trailed off. Jackson cocked his head slightly
"Cause?" he prompted gently
Aaron swallowed nervously "Cause one day you'll have had enough and be off."
Jackson smirked gently to himself; he shook his head knowingly "Believe me that's not gonna happen."
Aaron raised his eyebrow "No?"
"No, but I would appreciate any effort on your part to keep the dramatics to a minimum."
Aaron looked at him so relieved, he then cautiously stepped forward until he was in reach of Jackson and moved his fingertips until he touched Jackson's waist. He then gently slid his hands slightly underneath Jackson's top, feeling skin on skin. Jackson moved his hands up to cup Aaron's face, brought him closer until their noses touched and they gently kissed. The kiss was soft and delicate and Jackson felt that Aaron was trying to communicate how sorry he was.
Jackson pulled away after a minute
"I've cooked a pizza, you wanna share?"
"Yeah." And Aaron pulled him in for another kiss.
The End