Thank God for that!
It had been a flaming long week, Jackson thought as he loaded his tools into the van. Declan had really put the pressure on with the building work and to be fair, his mind hadn't really been on the job since he started working in the village – too many distractions – well, one in particular. So he'd had to knuckle down in order to be ready for the plasterer and electrician.
To try and get back on track, Jackson had decide to put a few hours in on Saturday morning but now it was lunch time and it was time to go home and get ready. He was looking forward to a good night out and a long lazy lie in on Sunday with his boyfriend.
Boyfriend. He smiled at the thought. If you would have told him a couple of weeks ago that he'd be calling Aaron his boyfriend he would have laughed. It was his own feelings that had worn him down in the end as it became more difficult to stay mad at Aaron and to ignore him when he was working so closely to him. They had both been angry with Adam for interfering at first but as it happens, it had done them both a favour.
They had cleared the air, both saying their piece, and shared their first real kiss which had quickly developed into their first night together. Jackson was surprised how fast things had changed and how Aaron had reacted the morning after. Jackson was unsure how he would be greeted when he woke but was pleasantly surprised. Granted Aaron was a bit off'ish at first but once they had faced Paddy, he seemed to relax and even told his mum what was going on.
Throughout the week, they had seen each other but work had got in the way and Aaron had got frustrated when Jackson couldn't slope off to the pub for lunch or had to work late. But instead of sulking, Aaron had turned up with mugs of tea when he was on a break, helped with some of the clearing up and even taken to exchanging some flirty text messages which only made Jackson look forward to spending time with him even more.
There had only been one incident when they were sitting on the steps enjoying their brew in the afternoon sunshine. Shadrack had turned up and tried to apologise to Aaron for the remarks he had made about him being gay but Aaron was having none of it. He quickly cut the old man off with a scathing attack that forced Jackson to intervene.
"Right, that's enough", Jackson had warned as Shadrack walked away quite visibly upset and dejected.
"Why should I forgive him after what he's said to me" asked Aaron
"Because sometimes, when you forgive someone, it can change everything for the better", Jackson replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if I hadn't forgiven you for all your nonsense, we wouldn't be sitting here now and you wouldn't have made me a brew" explained Jackson.
Aaron considered this for a second and sheepishly looked at Jackson. "Point taken, he said. "I'll have a word when I see him and put things right."
Jackson couldn't believe how quickly the situation had been diffused and now he was looking forward to them spending more days and nights together without so much drama.
He closed the van door and looked up the road towards the Woolie. Aaron had said he was going to meet Adam for a drink if he fancied it and Jackson was tempted but decided to go home and tidy up the flat as they had planned to stay at Jackson's that night. It was the first time Aaron had been round, and Jackson wanted everything to be just right so he climbed into the driver's seat and headed out of the village smiling to himself at the thought of the night ahead.