Full Circle – Chapter 1
DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Emmerdale and its characters, which belong to ITV
-O-
Aaron could hear Marco in the shower. Marco lived in a modern bed-sit above a parade of shops in Hotten and, as it only consisted of a combined lounge and bedroom and a small kitchen and bathroom; Aaron could hear every splash as Marco performed his ablutions. Aaron had stayed the night; they had watched a recording of the previous day's TV coverage of the London Olympics and had consumed a few cans of lager, so they had decided that Marco should not drive, otherwise Aaron would have had a lift home to Emmerdale. Not that there was anything new about this arrangement; Aaron had stayed over on numerous occasions over the past couple of months since he and Marco had been going out together; and they were becoming closer.
As Marco emerged from the bathroom, dressed only in a white towel wrapped around his slim waist, Aaron enjoyed the sight before him. Marco Silvestri was half-English and half-Italian, on his father's side. He had short, dark curly hair, big brown eyes and a square jaw that, because of his Mediterranean looks, gave the impression of an all-day five o'clock shadow. He had tanned skin covering his firm, muscular frame and his well-developed chest was coated in a light dusting of hair. Aaron was pleased with himself; he had bagged a real hottie! To match his good looks, Marco also had a nice personality; kind, generous and friendly. He had a beautiful set of white teeth which were now on display as Marco was grinning at Aaron at that moment. They had met when Marco dropped by the garage one day to deliver a package: he was a van driver for a courier firm. He had asked if there was anywhere to grab a bite to eat as it was lunchtime and Aaron, who was due his own lunch break, had joined him at Bob's cafe. They got talking and soon discovered that they were both gay and a friendship had quickly developed. It did not take them long to find out that they fancied the pants off each other!
"Well, would you like to hit Bar West later?" Marco said as he whipped the towel off to rub his hair, leaving Aaron to fight the stirring in his loins at the sight of his boyfriend's naked body; the muscles on his arms bulging as he towelled his head.
"I dunno, aren't you working today?"
"It's Saturday!" replied Marco, as if by way of explanation.
"I know," Aaron said, "but you sometimes work on a Saturday."
"Not this Saturday, it's my day off on the rota; it means I've got the whole weekend free." Marco finished drying his hair and crossed the room to the bedroom area. He pulled on some clothes and then sat at the table opposite Aaron to eat breakfast.
Aaron poured some cornflakes into his own bowl and handed the box to Marco.
"Well, you haven't answered my question," Marco said.
"What question?" Aaron acted as if he did not remember Marco's invitation to the bar.
"Aaron; you're such a div sometimes!" Marco raised his eyebrows, the statement and expression reminded Aaron of someone else that he used to be close to. Marco repeated himself, "Do you want to go to Bar West?"
Aaron could see no harm in a visit to one of his old haunts, "OK!" he said with a grin.
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Bar West was fairly quiet when Aaron and Marco eventually arrived that evening after spending the day in town, driving around in Marco's VW Golf. The car had seen better days and Marco was pleased that Aaron was a mechanic as he could get his new boyfriend to look at it for him if he had any trouble; although it still ran well, so that had not been an issue so far.
"What can I get you?" the barman said as they walked towards him.
"Two pints please," answered Marco with a smile, holding a ten pound note in his hand.
They found an empty table and sat down. After chatting happily for a while, Aaron returned to the bar for another round. As he was waiting for his drinks, he was taken aback by the sight of his ex, Jackson, walking through the door with a young guy, who instantly reminded him of the British diving champion Tom Daley, who he had seen on the Olympics coverage, except this lad had blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He could tell that they were a couple; the body language was plain to see. They walked up to the bar and Jackson's smile disappeared when he spotted Aaron.
"Oh, hello!" Jackson looked slightly embarrassed.
"Jackson!" Aaron was pleased that he was not drinking at that moment; as he was sure he would have choked in surprise.
Jackson, not wishing to appear rude, introduced his partner, "This is Dane!"
Dane extended his hand to shake Aaron's, "Dane Milner," he said, confidently.
"This is Aaron," Jackson said, without adding details of their previous relationship.
"So, you're the famous Aaron!" Dane added with a smile.
"I didn't know I was famous!" Aaron looked a little confused.
"Jackson's mentioned you," Dane looked at his partner and smirked, "but only about three times a day!"
"Come off it!" Jackson defended himself; looking at Aaron he said, "I might have mentioned you, once or twice."
Marco, wondering what the hold-up was with the drinks, joined the group and, on spotting Jackson, smiled and extended his hand, "Jackson! Long time no see!"
"You two know each other?" Aaron looked even more confused than before.
"Yeah, we used to work together!" Marco replied, as he slipped an arm around Aaron's waist.
Aaron was not usually comfortable with public displays of affection, but his bravado got the better of him and he suddenly wanted to prove to Jackson that he had moved on; so he slung his own arm across Marco's shoulder and said, "How come? Jackson's never been a courier, well, not to my knowledge!"
"I haven't always worked for 'City-Speed', I used to be a labourer on building sites; that's where I met Jackson," Marco explained.
Once the introductions were out of the way, the four lads decided to settle down together at a table and have a chat.
"So," Aaron searched for something to say to Jackson, there was a touch of awkwardness between them and Marco and Dane soon picked up on it, "How did you two meet?"
"I met Dane on a construction job I was working on," Jackson said.
"What do you do then?" Aaron asked Dane.
"Painter and decorator," Dane replied, "If you want your place sprucing up, I'm your man!"
"Actually," Marco chipped in, "I was just saying to Aaron the other day; my kitchen walls could do with a lick of paint."
"I'll give you my number," Dane replied, "I can give you a quote if you like."
After Marco and Dane had swapped numbers on their mobile phones, Aaron suggested to Marco that it was time to leave and they decided to head back to Marco's flat. Marco had not brought his car as he wanted to be free to have a drink and, in any case, it was only a fifteen minute walk from Bar West.
After arriving back at the flat, Aaron flopped down on the sofa and stared into space. Marco could sense that something was troubling Aaron, so he sat down beside him and spoke, "Penny for 'em?"
"What?" Aaron seemed miles away.
"You're very quiet. It's not like you!"
"Oh cheers! Are you saying I'm noisy!"
"This has something to do with Jackson, doesn't it?" Marco was no fool.
"OK, if you must know, Jackson's my ex," Aaron stated, matter-of-factly.
"I see; and this is the first time you've seen him since you split up?"
"Yeah!" Aaron was being evasive; he did not really want to go into great detail about his ex-boyfriend.
"What happened? Why did you split up? Was there someone else?" Marco was not going to let it drop.
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"But it might help. Look, I don't want to stick my nose in where it's not wanted, but you've been a bit off all evening. I'm a good listener!" Marco looked directly into Aaron's eyes.
Aaron mulled it over; there was really no secret about his relationship with Jackson, so he continued without further hesitation, "Well, I messed him about. I sold a dodgy car to this bloke, Mickey, only he didn't like the fact that I wouldn't give him his money back. I used my dog Clyde to try to intimidate Mickey, but he came back later and killed Clyde! Jackson went and paid him the money behind my back and I went ballistic. Jackson hated violence and we rowed about it. I tried to apologise and swore that I'd change, but he'd had enough. I don't really blame him. The shame of it is, I've kept my nose clean ever since; so we probably could have made a go of it if he'd given me another chance."
"So, you wish you could have got back together?"
Aaron went back to being evasive, "No!" he said, "Jackson's ancient history! I'm with you now!" As if to emphasize the point, Aaron quickly planted a kiss on Marco's lips. The passion between them soon mounted and Aaron began tugging at Marco's clothes; running his hands over the rippling, washboard stomach and firm pecs under his shirt. Aaron broke the hot kiss, "It's past my bedtime!" he whispered suggestively.
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Aaron gazed at Marco lying next to him in the bed. He usually woke up first, while his boyfriend slumbered on blissfully; especially after a night of passion like the one that they had just shared. Aaron's mind drifted back to the previous evening's events; unexpectedly meeting Jackson at Bar West; seeing him with someone new... Dane. He tried to fight the feeling of jealousy welling up inside him. He asked himself why he should feel jealous; Jackson had moved on and so had he. He had Marco now, just like he had told his boyfriend, Jackson was just an ex; history! Yet, seeing Jackson again had unnerved him, so many buried feelings had resurfaced. He told himself that he was being ridiculous; he was over Jackson a long time ago.
Marco roused and looked at Aaron's smiling face, "Morning gorgeous!" Marco said, smiling back with his row of dazzling white teeth.
Aaron gave Marco a quick kiss and jumped out of bed to relieve himself in the bathroom. When he returned to the lounge, Marco was setting the table for breakfast.
"Do you fancy some toast this morning?" Marco enquired.
"Got any marmalade?"
"Yeah, of course; you can't have toast without marmalade!"
"Well, you can," Aaron grinned, "You can have it with chocolate spread, peanut butter or jam!"
"Smartarse!" Marco chuckled, knowing full well that his boyfriend was teasing him.
"Anyway, once we've had breakfast, I'd better head home for a change of clothes."
"OK, I'll give you a lift, then we can go out for the day," Marco said, cheerily.
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Dane had spent the night at Jackson's flat. He could feel that Jackson was uneasy about something and assumed that it was the meeting the previous evening with Aaron. He knew that Aaron had been a big part of his life; especially as he still mentioned him quite a lot. He had joked about it in Bar West, calling his ex "The famous Aaron," but secretly he felt that he was in competition with the young mechanic; yet he did not know why he had such feelings. Jackson was always kind, attentive and loving towards him, yet he still had this niggling doubt in the back of his mind. But, he told himself that it was stupid to feel this way; why should he be bothered about a lad from Jackson's past?