Aaron sat in the Woolpack watching his half empty pint of beer. He blocked out all the voices from people who were sat in the pub with friends and their family, he hated seeing people laughing and having a good time with people.
He did not hate the fact that they were happy, he hated to think about what the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father Gordon Livesy. Adam was sat with Moira and Cain, Ross, Pete and Finn were sat with James and Emma, Kerry was murdering the song that she was attempting to sing on the karaoke.
Kerry was shouting at the top of her lungs "Yeah, it's pretty clear, I ain't no size two, But I can shake it, shake it, like I'm supposed to do, Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase, And all the right junk in all the right places!"
Aaron sighed when his ex-lover Robert walked in and sat opposite him. "Do you want another?" Robert said pointing at the glass in front of Aaron.
"No thanks" Aaron said still staring at his drink.
"Kerry's destroying that song" Robert scoffed at Kerry's dancing and singing.
"Tell me about it. Bloody hell, even I can probably sing better than that"
"Then why don't you? Anything's better than that" Robert pointed at Kerry.
Aaron shrugged his shoulders "not in the mood"
"Tell you what." Robert sat up "if I sing will you?"
Aaron smiled "you?"
Robert crossed his arms "yeah. I will if you will"
"Ok you've got yourself a deal"
The two men shook each other's hand. Once the song had ended people clapped and Kerry gave the microphone back to Diane and she walked back over to her seat with a smile on her face.
Diane walked over and looked around the pub at everyone "Uh, thank you Kerry. Does anyone else want to have a go?"
Robert smirked and stood up "I'll have a go at it" he looked at Aaron and he nodded. He walked over and Diane handed him the Microphone. Robert looked at the screen and flicked through the songs until he found the right one and then he pressed play. Aaron heard the backing tune and he immediately recognised the song.
"When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?"
Robert glanced at Aaron for a brief few seconds and then he turned back to look at the screen. "And, darling, I will love you 'til we're 70
And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Well, me—I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am".
Aaron knew why Robert chose to sing thinking out loud, he knew that Robert was trying to send him a message but no matter how much he wanted Robert, he did not completely trust him. However Robert continued to sing looking up at Aaron every few seconds giving the way the fact that he already knew the lyrics. Robert took a deep breath and then belted out the rest of the song hitting every note perfectly.
"Cause, honey, your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen
And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you'll understand"
After he had sang the whole song Robert handed the microphone back to Diane and walked back over to where Aaron was sat. "Right." Robert said as he sat down "now it's your turn".The two men then heard an ear-piercing scream.
"What the fucking hell is that?" Robert asked
"That is the sound of Gabby imitating a banshee in a blender whilst screaming Applause by Lady Gaga" Aaron took a sip of his drink as Robert looked over his shoulder.
Sure enough Gabby was screaming into the microphone "I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong
To crash the critic saying, "Is it right or is it wrong?"
If only fame had an I.V., baby could I bear
Being away from you, I found the vein, put it in here
I live for the applause, applause, applause
I live for the applause-plause
Live for the applause-plause
Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me
The applause, applause, applause"
Robert turned back to Aaron and raised his eyebrows "no way in hell am I giving her a round of Applause". Aaron chuckled as he tried to swallow a mouth full of beer. Robert had missed that smile on Aarons face, though deep down he knew that something was up but he couldn't quite place what it was.
After Gabby had stopped screaming into the microphone everyone slowly clapped, they were all bewildered by what they had just heard. Diane then stood up and Gabby handed her the microphone. "Right, uh does anyone want a go at karaoke?" Before Robert could say anything to Aaron he saw a man stood at the table looking down at Aaron.
"Hello son" said a cheerful voice
Both of men looked up to see a grinning man, Robert noticed the look of horror and fear on Aarons face but he questioned why. He did not understand why Aaron was so terrified at the sight of the man stood by him.
"Long time no see" said the man
Aaron gulped "w-what do you want Gordon?"
"I have come to talk to you about some stuff. Son I haven't seen you since you were a boy. Who's this?"
Gordon looked directly at Robert "Err. I'm Robert"
There was something about Gordon that made Robert's skin crawl and the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He looked at Aaron, the look of terror on the young man's face made his blood run cold.
"Is Robert your boyfriend" Gordon smirked
Aaron quickly looked up at his father "h-how do you…?"
"Diane told me when we met at the hospital, I'm recovering from cancer. We met during treatment"
"Err, no I'm just a mate" Robert looked at Aaron, he nodded and Aaron nodded back.
"Oh, what happened between you two?"
Robert saw that Aaron was anxious "it didn't work out. Aaron and I are just mates now"
"Gordon I have nothing to say to you, will you just go?" Aaron said quickly
Diane walked over "why don't you give him a chance, he's here now. I'm sure you can forgive him for what ever happened between you two".
"No chance" Aaron murmured under his breath
"I have the money to buy this place if you want it?"
Robert was surprised "you really have that kind of cash?"
"The insurance paid out" Gordon said
"What you think that you can just pay me off like nothing ever happened" Aaron said
"I know things have been tough, but we can work this out" Gordon said
"Gordon get out before I do something that I regret. Aaron starred at Gordon with a dark look "Diane can I have ago at singing?"
"Sure pet. Here, Just go and pick a song"
Aaron stood up "Thanks Diane" she passed him the microphone and then Aaron looked at Robert "Rob. get ready to be blown away."
Robert smiled as Aaron walked over to the screen flicked through and picked a song. When he heard the backing track Robert knew the song but when he looked at Aaron he sensed that something was very wrong. Aaron did not need to look at the words he knew the song off by heart "I thought that I've been hurt before
But no one's ever left me quite this sore
Your words cut deeper than a knife
Now I need someone to breathe me back to life"
Through the whole song Aaron was looking at Robert with a terrified look, begging him to do something. But Robert did not know why Aaron was so scared or why he picked to sing Stiches. Everyone in the Woolpack went quite when Aaron belted out the rest of the song, "I'm aching begging you to come help
And now that I'm without your kisses
I'll be needing stitches
Aaron then moved his head slightly signaling to Robert that he meant his dad. Robert looked at Gordon and then back at Aaron, Robert knew from the way that Aaron was acting that his father had done something very bad.
Needle and the thread
Gotta get you out of my head
Needle and the thread
Gonna wind up dead
Needle and the thread
Gotta get you out of my head
Needle and the thread
Gonna wind up dead
Needle and the thread
Gotta get you out of my head
Needle and the thread
Gonna wind up dead!"
Aaron held his stomach for the rest of the song, Robert realised that Aaron was telling him that something happened that had caused him to self-harm but when Aaron twitched his head again Robert realised that for some reason Aaron had self-harmed because of Gordon.
When the song ended everyone clapped, Aaron walked over to Adam and whispered in his ear. Adam passed Aaron a piece of paper and a pen and Aaron quickly wrote something down and handed the pe back to Adam. Then he folded the piece of paper so it was small and he walked back over to where he was sat.
"Shit. That was amazing Aaron, I didn't know that you could sing." Robert said.
"There's a lot of things that people don't know about me" Aaron flicked his eyes at Gordon and Robert nodded to show that he knew something had happened.
"Why don't I buy the next round" said Gordon with a sinister smile "me and you need to catch up and I would like to get to know Robert"
Gordon was about to sit beside Robert but Aaron sprang up from his seat, he ran straight passed Gordon and he sat right beside Robert so close that they were touching. "Uh, i was cold and Robert is always really warm" Robert got the hint and he lifted his arm and put it over Aaron's shoulders, he then looked at Gordon. "What is it about those eyes that make me so angry?" Robert thought to himself.
"I thought that you two were just mates" said Gordon.
"Y-yeah we're best buds, get out Gordon" Aaron grabbed Robert hand and held it tight. Robert felt something in between both of their hands.
"Son…"
Before he could say anything else Robert interrupted "I think that it is best that you go. Aaron clearly doesn't want to talk to you"
Gordon glared at Robert and then he turned around and walked out of the pub. As soon as Gordon had left Aaron got up and hurried into the front room of the house. Robert watched him leave and then he looked at his hand. Aaron had left the piece of paper in his hand. Robert opened up the piece of paper, Aaron's note sent chills down Robert's spine.
(Robert please Help. He hurt me.) When Robert read those words a puzzled look appeared on his face. He knew that something was wrong and he needed to get to the bottom of it, and fast.