p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"May/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert followed the final punters to the door, locking it behind them. He took a slow, deep breath as he turned to collect the glasses from the tables, taking them through to the kitchen and placing them onto the counter. He took a moment to check his phone. He had two missed calls from the barrister he'd hired to handle Aaron's appeal. Pressing a button, he listened to the voicemail that had been left for him. The first message informed Robert that he had gotten a judge to at least hear the argument./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert sucked in a breath, tamping down the hope that was fluttering in his chest before listening to the second message. The case was scheduled to be heard in three days time. If things went their way, Aaron could be coming home in a matter of weeks, rather than the months that stretched before them at the moment. The barrister wanted to meet with Robert to go over things before he went before the judge./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert gripped the counter for a moment as the room spun with the possibilities this opened up for Aaron,for all of them. He felt the adrenaline he'd been living off of for weeks flood through him at the hope this gave him. This could be the light at the end of the tunnel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Aaron had been stuck in that prison for three months now. There was finally hope that justice would be served at last. Robert turned the faucet on, rushing through cleaning the glasses. If there was a chance that Aaron was coming home, then he needed to get things finalized with Mill Cottage. He wanted Aaron to be able to come home to their home. Someplace where he wouldn't have to share his husband with half of his family on a daily basis./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once the glasses were cleaned, Robert grabbed the bar rag and quickly cleaned down the tables and the bar counter, before he swept the floor. He was vaguely aware that he wasn't being as thorough as he should be, and he could imagine the lip he'd get from Charity the next day. But he just couldn't bring himself to care right now. All that mattered was Aaron./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert walked to the til and got it ready for the next day's shift, preparing the bank deposit and putting the pouch in the safe for Charity to deal with in the morning. He made his way into the back and went to check on Liv./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He walked quickly up the stairs and peeked into Liv's room, finding the girl curled up on her bed. She'd clearly cried herself to sleep again. Robert knew this had happened every night since Aaron had been sent down. He wished he knew how to help her. He tried his best to be there for her, but with all the responsibilities resting on his shoulders, Robert knew he was failing miserably when it came to caring for her. He'd expected to be sharing that responsibility with Chas, until she'd left for Prague three weeks ago, leaving him the added burden of running the pub in her absence./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sighing deeply, Robert walked into the room he'd shared with Aaron for a year, and grabbed one of the boxes he'd filled the night before. It was time to start moving things over to Mill. Time for him to make sure Aaron had a real home to return to. Robert made his way down the stairs with the box, stumbling slightly as he reached the bottom./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He leaned against the wall, waiting for this light headed feeling to pass. Finally he straightened and headed out the back door and down the street toward Mill, the box held against his chest as he made his way through the dark night./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When he reached the cottage he set the box down on the porch and took out his key, unlocking the door and returning the key to his pocket. Picking the box back up, Robert made his way inside, flipping the light switch and heading for the stairs, intent on placing the box in the room he would hopefully soon be sharing with his husband./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert hadn't gotten very far, only a few steps up, when the room began to spin around him. He swayed dangerously for a moment before he fell backwards, landing in a heap on the floor at the base of the steps. He sucked in one final, painful breath as the room faded into darkness around him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert followed the final punters to the door, locking it behind them. He took a slow, deep breath as he turned to collect the glasses from the tables, taking them through to the kitchen and placing them onto the counter. He took a moment to check his phone. He had two missed calls from the barrister he'd hired to handle Aaron's appeal. Pressing a button, he listened to the voicemail that had been left for him. The first message informed Robert that he had gotten a judge to at least hear the argument./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert sucked in a breath, tamping down the hope that was fluttering in his chest before listening to the second message. The case was scheduled to be heard in three days time. If things went their way, Aaron could be coming home in a matter of weeks, rather than the months that stretched before them at the moment. The barrister wanted to meet with Robert to go over things before he went before the judge./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert gripped the counter for a moment as the room spun with the possibilities this opened up for Aaron,for all of them. He felt the adrenaline he'd been living off of for weeks flood through him at the hope this gave him. This could be the light at the end of the tunnel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Aaron had been stuck in that prison for three months now. There was finally hope that justice would be served at last. Robert turned the faucet on, rushing through cleaning the glasses. If there was a chance that Aaron was coming home, then he needed to get things finalized with Mill Cottage. He wanted Aaron to be able to come home to their home. Someplace where he wouldn't have to share his husband with half of his family on a daily basis./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once the glasses were cleaned, Robert grabbed the bar rag and quickly cleaned down the tables and the bar counter, before he swept the floor. He was vaguely aware that he wasn't being as thorough as he should be, and he could imagine the lip he'd get from Charity the next day. But he just couldn't bring himself to care right now. All that mattered was Aaron./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert walked to the til and got it ready for the next day's shift, preparing the bank deposit and putting the pouch in the safe for Charity to deal with in the morning. He made his way into the back and went to check on Liv./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He walked quickly up the stairs and peeked into Liv's room, finding the girl curled up on her bed. She'd clearly cried herself to sleep again. Robert knew this had happened every night since Aaron had been sent down. He wished he knew how to help her. He tried his best to be there for her, but with all the responsibilities resting on his shoulders, Robert knew he was failing miserably when it came to caring for her. He'd expected to be sharing that responsibility with Chas, until she'd left for Prague three weeks ago, leaving him the added burden of running the pub in her absence./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sighing deeply, Robert walked into the room he'd shared with Aaron for a year, and grabbed one of the boxes he'd filled the night before. It was time to start moving things over to Mill. Time for him to make sure Aaron had a real home to return to. Robert made his way down the stairs with the box, stumbling slightly as he reached the bottom./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He leaned against the wall, waiting for this light headed feeling to pass. Finally he straightened and headed out the back door and down the street toward Mill, the box held against his chest as he made his way through the dark night./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When he reached the cottage he set the box down on the porch and took out his key, unlocking the door and returning the key to his pocket. Picking the box back up, Robert made his way inside, flipping the light switch and heading for the stairs, intent on placing the box in the room he would hopefully soon be sharing with his husband./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Robert hadn't gotten very far, only a few steps up, when the room began to spin around him. He swayed dangerously for a moment before he fell backwards, landing in a heap on the floor at the base of the steps. He sucked in one final, painful breath as the room faded into darkness around him./p