Monday

Aaron's gaze alternated between Robert's lush backside and his equally delectable reflection in the full-length mirror, unable to decide which view was best.

It was 10:42pm and Aaron was in bed waiting for Robert to join him. Resting back against the headboard with his hands behind his head, his eyes roamed leisurely over the naked body of his boyfriend, thoroughly enjoying the show.

"Aaron!"

Aaron's eyes met Robert's in the mirror. "What?" he snapped, annoyed that his ogling had been interrupted.

"I asked if you minded me setting the alarm early tomorrow." Robert once again checked his body out in the mirror and prodded his stomach with one finger. "I'm going to start running again. I need to get rid of this pudge."

Aaron sat up, fully alert now. "What pudge?"

Robert turned, hands splayed across his abdomen. "This one," he said, jiggling his non-existent stomach as he climbed onto the bed.

"There's nothing there," Aaron protested, shifting over as Robert crawled under the covers and reached for his phone on the bedside table.

"There is," Robert insisted. After setting the alarm he reached for Aaron and pulled him close, snuggling down. "I put weight on after I was shot and I've never quite managed to get it all off."

"Hadn't noticed," Aaron grumbled, his hand subconsciously gravitating to Robert's stomach.

"I thought you'd be all for it. Just think, if I get into shape, I'll be able to keep up with you more," Robert joked, squeezing Aaron's arse for emphasis.

Aaron pouted in silence, keeping his face hidden.

"Why don't you come with me?" Robert asked. "We could run together."

Aaron responded with a noncommittal grunt and went to sleep.

Tuesday

When Aaron woke up, it was still dark outside. He extended his arm, seeking Robert's warmth but the other side of the bed was empty and cold.

He'd either slept through the alarm, which was unlikely, or Robert had woken up even earlier and turned it off before it could disturb Aaron's sleep.

He turned onto his back and sighed. He knew he was being selfish. Whatever Robert's reasons were for wanting to lose weight, he ought to be supporting him, not discouraging him. But he loved Robert exactly the way he was; especially his stomach.

It was true that during the weeks following his shooting, Robert had put on a little bit of weight after spending countless hours watching mind-numbing daytime TV on his sister's couch while he was recuperating, but he'd never been particularly buff in the first place.

Robert's stomach had once been firm and tight but not overly muscled and now there was a fascinating softness to it. Without realising, Aaron had grown quite attached to it and not only was it satisfying to look at but also strangely comforting to touch and damned if he didn't find it sexy.

But how could he tell Robert that? He'd think it was weird. Robert didn't need to lose any weight in Aaron's opinion but maybe he didn't need to tell him if he could just get Robert to come to the same conclusion on his own.

Wednesday

Aaron awoke to Robert moving rather noisily around the bedroom as he got himself ready for work. He was muttering and grumbling incoherently to himself.

Aaron stretched with a satisfied groan. "What's up?"

"My alarm didn't go off. I missed my run and now I'm late for work."

Aaron observed him in silence for a while. "Want me to make you something to eat?"

Robert sighed irritably. "It's fine, I'll grab something from the cafe." He finished fastening his tie then leaned over Aaron, briefly kissing him goodbye. "I'll see you later," he said before leaving the room.

A few seconds later Robert returned with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry." He leaned over Aaron again and this time their kiss was much more leisurely and affectionate. "I love you."

"Love you too," Aaron replied huskily, returning Robert's warm smile.

When Robert left, for good this time, Aaron fell back against the bed and sighed. Robert's alarm hadn't gone off because Aaron had woken up in the middle of the night and switched it off. He felt guilty about it but not enough to stop him thinking up further ways to sabotage Robert's attempt to lose weight.

Thursday

Aaron decided not to switch Robert's alarm off again. He didn't think Robert would start getting suspicious that early in the proceedings but he didn't want to give his boyfriend an excuse to go out and buy a new expensive phone, especially when Robert never needed an excuse to spend money as it was.

Instead, when Robert got home from work, Aaron was in the middle of spreading a Chinese banquet out on the coffee table in the living room. "What's all this?" Robert asked, setting his laptop bag down.

Aaron shrugged. "I said I'd sort tea out tonight."

Robert raised his eyebrows. "Are we expecting visitors then?"

"No," Aaron mumbled as he continued removing foil containers from the paper bag on the floor beside him.

"Aaron, this lot could feed a family of six!"

"I know, alright, I went a bit crazy. I forgot Liv was going over to Gabby's and I haven't had a chance to eat all day, I was starving!"

Robert sighed and took his coat off. "Alright, well, we'll save some for Liv and eat the leftovers tomorrow."

Of course, Aaron made sure Robert ended up eating more than he'd planned. Robert had admitted that he was hungry and the food did taste delicious so when Aaron encouraged him to enjoy himself and eat more, he hadn't refused.

An hour later they were wrapped in each other's arms on the couch and Robert started to regret eating so much. "I'm stuffed," he groaned, his stomach gurgling in agreement. "I'm never eating again."

"Me too." Aaron slid his hand underneath Robert's shirt, rucking up the material. "It was worth it though." He rubbed his palm over the slight swell of Robert's tummy and closed his eyes in pleasure, hiding a secret smile in Robert's neck.

Friday

Robert hadn't set his alarm and Aaron, feeling remorseful for practically force-feeding his boyfriend the night before, actually nudged him awake while it was still early. "Robert."

There was no response so Aaron shook him instead. "Robert," he said a little louder.

A muffled groan came from beneath the duvet. "What?"

"You didn't set your alarm," Aaron reminded him, rubbing his back over the duvet.

"'m not goin'," he mumbled, burrowing further under the covers. "Food hangover."

That evening when Aaron arrived home, Liv was at the kitchen table picking at the leftover Chinese.

"Where's Robert?" he asked, hanging his coat up.

"Upstairs and he's making noises."

Aaron frowned. "What kinda noises?"

"Sounds like he's got a bloke up there or summat. Either that or he's on his own." She pulled a face conveying her disgust. "I don't know which is worse."

Aaron grinned and took the stairs two at a time. When he reached their bedroom he found Robert on the floor doing stomach crunches. He closed the door and Robert held his position as Aaron stood over him with one foot either side of his hips. "Liv thinks you're up here having a crafty wank."

Robert's whole body dropped to the floor in shock. "What?!" he exclaimed, clearly horrified.

Aaron grinned and lowered himself to his knees. "What do you say we give her something to really complain about?" He leaned forward and kissed Robert's neck.

"Aaron, I'm working out," he said weakly.

Aaron sat back up and admired Robert's shirtless torso. Sweat glistened on his skin and Aaron's eyes were drawn, as always, down to Robert's stomach. He shifted back, making sure to press himself against Robert's groin, and placed his hands on the soft, inviting expanse of skin in front of him. He stroked from Robert's stomach up to his chest and back down again. "You sure about that?" he asked as he inched further backwards and leaned forward.

He trailed his tongue from the waistband of Robert's shorts along the line of fine hair that led to his belly button, his tongue dipping in and lingering around that area before Robert pushed at his head and laughed. "Tickles."

Aaron grinned but reluctantly moved on, occasionally diverting his attention up to Robert's chest but mainly sticking to his stomach. Aaron felt he could spend hours just lapping at Robert's skin.

Robert kept moaning and lifting his hips, obviously trying to draw Aaron's mouth and tongue to the hard cock that lay neglected in his shorts, and eventually Aaron decided to take pity on him and pushed himself up to grab the lube from the bedside drawer. Upon his return he quickly stripped himself of clothes and held Robert's gaze as he pulled his shorts down and off.

Kneeling down, he spread Robert's legs and hastily prepared him with lube, stretching him just enough so that it would hurt but in a good way.

When he entered Robert, they both groaned and closed their eyes, and when Aaron was sure Robert had adjusted to having him inside him, he started thrusting, soon setting a relentless pace.

He grunted every time he pushed in to the hilt, Robert's moans spurring him on. Aaron opened his eyes when he felt beads of sweat running down his face and dripping off the end of his nose.

Robert still had his eyes closed, seemingly unaware that Aaron was dropping sweat onto him. "Oh God, I'm coming!" Robert cried, tugging at his cock.

His chin to his chest, Aaron looked between them, the tempo of his thrusts faltering at the sight of Robert shooting all over his own stomach.

Despite the delicious clenching around his cock, Aaron pulled out of Robert quickly, his own orgasm fast approaching. All it took was a couple of strokes and he was coming in thick, white ropes, adding to the mess already on Robert's magnificent stomach.

With a need that surprised him, Aaron fell onto Robert, his ravenous tongue lapping up their combined come until all that remained on Robert's skin was Aaron's saliva and a film of sweat.

After a cursory wipe over his mouth and beard with the back of his hand, Aaron collapsed on his back beside Robert and stared at the ceiling, panting. "Liv's not gonna be happy."

Saturday and Sunday

The following two days of Operation Sabotage were highly successful in Aaron's opinion. First of all, he hid Robert's running shoes and by the time Robert found them he was too tired to go running. Robert blamed Liv who swore down she hadn't moved them ("Why would I touch his shoes? Ugh! Minging!") which meant both Robert and Liv were grumpy for the rest of the evening but Aaron decided it was worth it.

The following morning, after it had been raining all night, Robert hadn't been out running for more than ten minutes before he returned complaining that one of his shoes had a hole in it. Aaron hid a sly smile and invited Robert back under the covers.

Monday

Much to Aaron's dismay, Robert went into Hotten during his lunch break and bought a brand new pair of trainers. He didn't have the heart to mess with the new pair so came up with a new plan of action for the following day.

Tuesday

Aaron sat in the corner of the cafe reading the newspaper while he waited for Robert. He'd arranged to meet him for breakfast after he'd finished his run.

Robert walked in and immediately caught Aaron's eye. High on adrenaline, he winked and smiled suggestively at him on his way to the counter. Aaron couldn't take his eyes off him. There was a healthy glow to his cheeks, and although he was panting slightly and his hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat, Aaron thought he'd never looked hotter.

He shamelessly checked Robert out while he ordered a nutritious drink from Bob and made inane small talk with Brenda until it was ready. Robert looked bewildered when the cafe owner served him his drink along with a large sugared donut.

"Uh, Bob, I didn't order that."

"It's free!" Bob declared, clasping his hands together proudly. "New promotion. Free donut with every vegetable smoothie."

Brenda looked confused. "Since when?"

Bob gave her a pointed look and Robert frowned. "Um, no, thanks," he said, dropping the right change into Bob's hand. "You might wanna rethink that one, Bob."

He made his way over to Aaron. "I'm gonna drink this on the way home, babe. Nicola phoned and needs me in early." Before Aaron could respond, Robert kissed him on the cheek and walked out the door.

Bob appeared, looking remorseful, and placed the donut which Aaron had already paid for on the table in front of him. "Sorry," he said, "I tried my best. Why did you want him to have a donut anyway?"

"Don't worry about it," Aaron muttered, disappointed his plan hadn't worked.

Wednesday

The previous night, Aaron had surprised both Liv and Robert by giving her rare permission to spend a school night over at Gabby's. He'd come up with a brilliant plan that involved Liv making herself scarce.

However, as Aaron lay in bed with his hands behind his head, listening as Robert switched off the shower, he stared at the ceiling and decided he seriously needed to rethink his strategy.

When Robert's alarm had gone off, Aaron had managed to distract him by pulling him back to bed with a promise of doing anything he wanted. They'd ended up having rough, vigorous sex for over an hour and they'd probably burned more calories than Robert would have done on several early morning runs.

Robert strutted into the bedroom completely naked, exuding the confidence of someone with the body of a Greek god which was all part of his charm. "Ready for round two?" he grinned.

Aaron groaned and put an arm over his eyes. He obviously hadn't thought it through.

Thursday

After a little persuasion from Robert, Aaron had agreed to join him on his run. It was hard to believe but they'd never gone running together before and Aaron had to admit that he was enjoying not only spending time with Robert but also the exercise. It felt incredible to get out so early when everyone else was still in bed and appreciate how lucky they were to live in the Yorkshire countryside.

So much so that he was loathe to put an end to it so soon.

They had just started running through the woods when Aaron spied a small log on the trail in front of them. He dropped a few steps behind and pretended to trip over it. Calling out in mock pain, he landed as gracefully as he could and grabbed his ankle.

Robert turned instantly and jogged back to him. "Aaron? Are you okay?"

"No, I've hurt my ankle on this fucking thing." He picked up the offensive log with his free hand and hurled it as far as he could.

Robert knelt down. He removed Aaron's trainer and sock and gently examined Aaron's foot with his hands. "I don't even know what I'm feeling for to be honest." He reached an arm around Aaron and helped him up. "Come on, let's see if you can walk on it."

As soon as Aaron was on two feet, he faked discomfort once more and leaned heavily against Robert.

"I'll help you home. Try to keep your weight off it."

"No, we'll go to the scrapyard, it's closer."

It was almost an hour later by the time they reached the portacabin and Aaron couldn't believe how exhausting it was pretending he couldn't walk. Even though he'd had Robert's support it had been slow-going hobbling along on one leg.

Once Robert had settled him into a chair, he got the first aid box out of the cupboard. It was still early but Aaron knew Robert had to go home and grab a shower because he had several meetings scheduled in Leeds throughout the day that he had to get ready for.

"You go home, I can manage it from here."

Robert crouched down by Aaron's feet and opened the green box. "I'm not going anywhere until I've seen to your foot," he said, several plasters fluttering to the floor as he rifled through the contents.

After pulling out a bandage and safety pin, he discarded the first aid box on the floor and gently took hold of Aaron's foot, resting it on his thigh. "It doesn't look swollen but I'd keep it elevated just in case."

Aaron observed in silence as Robert started wrapping his ankle. It was evident he had no idea what he was doing but he was obviously worried about him and was treating him with such care that Aaron seriously started regretting his actions. He felt incredibly guilty for lying to Robert and for putting him to so much trouble for his own selfish reasons and now he was probably making him late for his meetings.

As Robert fastened the safety pin, Aaron stared down at his bent head. He was just about to open his mouth and confess when Robert looked up at him with a lopsided smile on his face. "Best I can do, I'm afraid."

He quickly threw everything back into the box but left some painkillers out and after grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and taking a couple of paracetamols from the packet, he handed them to Aaron.

"Thanks," Aaron muttered, lifting his leg when Robert dragged a chair over for him to prop his foot up on.

"I'll text Adam to bring some ice from the pub. Tell him you're under strict orders to only do paperwork today. And if you can't stand the pain, go to the doctors."

"Anything else, sir?"

"Yes." Robert rested his weight on the arms of Aaron's chair and leaned forward, kissing him tenderly. "Behave yourself and I might be persuaded to play doctors and nurses with you tonight." He winked at him and stood up. "I'll pick you up at five," he said on his way out the door.

Aaron sighed and rubbed his face. He was a terrible boyfriend.

When Adam arrived, he sauntered in and chucked a bag of ice straight in Aaron's lap. "Here ya go, soft lad, what have you been up to this time?"

Aaron glared at him and tossed the ice onto the desk. "Nothing. Robert thinks I've sprained my ankle so don't go telling him otherwise," he said, pointing at his best friend.

"I won't say a word, mate. Last thing I want to do is get mixed up in your weird little sex games."

Aaron had no idea why Adam had come to that conclusion but it suited him not to have to explain so he kept his mouth shut.

By the time five o'clock rolled around, Aaron had almost forgotten that Robert was picking him up. He was playing a game of darts with Adam and after throwing the last winning dart, he was in the process of getting Adam into a friendly headlock when he heard Robert's car outside. "Shit, Robert's here."

To the sound of Adam's laughter, he sprinted to his desk and tried to look busy, remembering to prop his foot back up just as Robert opened the door. "How's the patient?"

"Awww, it's a lot better, in't it, mate?" Adam said, retrieving the darts from the board and standing in position to throw them again. "I've been trying to persuade him to have a game with me but he wouldn't have it, said he was under strict instructions to keep off his foot." He glanced back at Aaron and grinned before throwing the darts. "He's been good as gold all day."

"Glad to hear it," Robert said and turned to Aaron. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." He stood up carefully and looked at Adam. "See ya, mate."

Adam grinned at him as he limped to the door. "Yeah, you take it easy, mate," he said and Aaron gave him his best death stare.

Friday

Aaron woke up at 3:53am. His bladder was shouting at him to use the toilet and no matter how reluctant he was to leave the warm comfort their bed provided, he knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep unless he relieved himself.

A full moon was shining brightly through the thin curtains and upon his return from the bathroom, Robert's phone caught his eye. It had been a while since he'd messed with Robert's alarm so he made his way around the bed to Robert's side and picked up the phone.

A cursory glance in Robert's direction confirmed he was still asleep so Aaron went ahead and pressed the button to wake the phone up. The screen cast an ominous light around the room and Aaron hastily tapped through to the phone's alarm settings.

"I'm not stupid, you know."

"Christ!" Aaron jumped and almost dropped the phone. Robert was looking straight at him. He put it down carefully, his heart beating rapidly. "I was just checking the time."

Robert watched him walk around the bed to his own side. "Something wrong with your phone?"

Aaron lifted the covers and climbed in. "Yeah, the battery's dead." He lay with his back to Robert and grimaced. Robert knew he always charged his phone on a night; they both did.

The light from Robert's phone faded and the room went dark. He could feel Robert staring at the back of his head.

"Your ankle better then?"

Shit. He'd forgotten to limp.

"Aaron?"

He kept his mouth shut and closed his eyes, hoping Robert would think he'd fallen asleep.

"Aaron, look at me." Robert shook his shoulder. "I told you, I'm not stupid."

Aaron forced his eyes open and scowled. "Don't know what you mean."

"Come on, hiding my trainers, distracting me with sex, turning my alarm off, faking a sprained ankle…"

Aaron sighed. "…and the free donut."

"That was you? I thought that was Bob just being… Bob."

Guilt was building up inside Aaron and it made him feel slightly sick. He didn't know what to say.

"So… you don't want me to lose weight, is that it?" Robert rubbed Aaron's arm encouragingly when he didn't answer. "Why?"

"I like your belly," Aaron muttered into his pillow.

"What?"

"I said, I like your belly!"

Robert's hand disappeared from his arm and he was worryingly silent behind him. What had he done? Robert was going to think he was some kind of freak. It was one thing perving over someone's arse or legs or their arms even but their stomach? It just seemed weird, even to Aaron.

"So that's why you've been…?"

"I almost told you. I felt so guilty when you helped me all the way back to the scrapyard and then you looked after me and strapped my ankle and then I just… don't know. I just… didn't."

"And all of this because you don't want me to lose my stomach?"

Aaron sighed and ignored the question. "When did you figure out summat was up?"

"Last night at the scrapyard when I saw you messing around with Adam through the window." Aaron chuckled. "As soon as I walked through the door you were sat at your desk looking innocent. I knew something was going on then but I couldn't quite figure out what."

They lay in silence for a while and Aaron had almost drifted off to sleep when he felt Robert move closer. His eyes shot open.

"So you like my belly, do ya?" Robert breathed huskily against his ear.

Aaron bit his lip to stop himself smiling.

"I said…" Robert turned Aaron onto his back and straddled him. "You like my belly…" He started crawling up Aaron's body, pulling himself up on the headboard until his stomach was pressing on Aaron's face. "…do ya?"

Aaron chuckled and tried to turn his head. "Gerroff!" Robert gyrated his stomach against Aaron's face and they both laughed. "Robert!" Aaron pushed half-heartedly at Robert's thighs and stomach, the headboard banging against the wall every time Robert worked himself forward. "Robert, stop it!"

Somehow, despite the banging of the headboard, they both managed to hear Liv knocking on the wall and froze. "Oi! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Aaron winced. "Sorry!" he shouted, slightly disappointed when Robert lifted himself up and swung his leg back over. He lay down close to Aaron, their sides pressed together.

"Are you mad?" Aaron asked quietly.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because I lied to you… and I stopped you from doing something you clearly wanted to do."

Robert shrugged. "I don't mind."

Aaron decided to push his luck. "So you'll keep it then? I don't have to keep turning your alarm off to stop you from running?"

Robert turned on his side to face him. "How about a compromise? I'll go running three or four times a week, just to keep fit, but I won't do any crunches or go to the gym and I'll let you feed me takeaway once a week. Agreed?"

Aaron grinned. "Agreed," he said, sealing the deal with a peck on the lips. He turned his back to Robert and closed his eyes and smiled.

Aaron was once again on the edge of sleep when Robert shifted behind him.

"Kinky little bastard," he whispered and pulled Aaron back to fit snugly against him.