As Aaron stirred, he felt the familiar loneliness at waking up alone again. His head was pounding and he felt sick, but felt even worse when he remembered what day it was and the reason he had drunk so much the previous night. It was the day of Robert's wedding.
Aaron rolled over and grabbed his phone, noticing that he had 4 new texts. Opening them up, he saw that they were all from his beautiful gold-haired lover, the lover that was not his anymore.
Aaron, I need to talk to you. Call me as soon as you get this.
Please Aaron, I need to hear your voice. I need to see you.
If you don't call me soon, I'm coming round there to drag you out of bed.
Aaron, if you don't want anything to do with me, that's fine. If I don't hear from you in the next 20 minutes I'll get the hint that you are done with me and I'll leave you alone. I'm sorry.
Aaron felt his stomach drop as he read through the texts. Noting that the final text had been sent 15 minutes before, he just about had time to call Robert.
"Hello?"
"Robert, I'm so sorry. I drank too much last night and have only just woken up."
"Aaron, I really need to see you. In person. Can you meet me at Home Farm in 10 minutes? I'm alone here, Chrissie, Lachlan and Lawrence are at the salon."
"Look, shouldn't you be getting ready for this wedding of yours? I don't want to make you late."
"Please, Aaron, I just need to see you." Robert was pleading now.
"Fine, I'll see you there."
"Alright, I'll see you in a minute."
Aaron sat with his head in his hands, wondering why Robert wanted to see him. They had spoken yesterday and Robert had told Aaron that they could continue their relationship even after Robert got married, but Aaron had told Robert that he would not sleep with a married man. They had said their tearful goodbyes and slept together for one final time before promising to just become friends.
He put on his usual jeans and hoody before heading over to Home Farm, where Robert was waiting on the doorstep dressed in the suit that made him look even more like a model than usual.
Neither of them saw the woman hiding around the side of the house, watching Robert's every move.
"Aaron, I'm not sure I can do this without knowing that you're waiting for me." Robert said as soon as Aaron reached the door. Aaron sighed, knowing how hard it was for Robert as he felt the same about giving Robert back to Chrissie.
"Not here, Robert. Let's go inside." To Aaron's surprise, Robert grabbed Aaron's face, right there on the doorstep, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
"Tell me you don't feel that. That you don't have feelings for me like I have for you. That if I marry Chrissie it wouldn't destroy you."
Aaron pushed Robert away gently. "Robert, I can't do this. I will not have an affair with a married man. I'm sorry but it's over. As much as it kills me to say that, it has to happen. The only alternative is for you to not marry Chrissie and we could be together properly." Even as Aaron said the words, he knew it was hopeless He would never be more than Robert's bit on the side. Robert would never give up his beautiful soon-to-be wife, fast cars and more money than he knew what to do with.
Robert looked down at the ground. "Aaron, you know I can't do that."
"I'm sorry Robert, then it's over. For good. I don't think we can even be friends, it would be too hard. I'll pull out of the business, you can work with Adam alone." Aaron felt the tears pooling in his eyes and turned, beginning to walk away.
He was stopped as a hand grabbed his wrist spinning him round and pulling him against a strong body. "I'm so sorry, Aaron. I'm so sorry. I'll leave you alone. But please come to the wedding, it'll seem strange if you don't and I want you to be there, if we can both make it through the ceremony without breaking down then it'll show that we can stay apart." Robert said, as his arms wrapped around Aaron's smaller body in a secure embrace.
"I don't think that I can do that. I can't be there when you say your vows." Aaron closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears that were falling.
"Please, Aaron, I'm begging you. It's the last thing I'll ever ask of you." Robert pressed a kiss to Aaron's forehead in a touching gesture, and Aaron found himself agreeing, wanting to fix the broken tone of Robert's voice.
"Thank you. And I'm so sorry about everything." Robert pressed one final kiss to Aaron's forehead before dropping his arms, letting Aaron turn and walk away. He watched Aaron go, feeling his heart break with each step.
