Title: At Least They're Not Fighting
Rating: Teen
Summary: Jackson and Aaron have been at each other's throats for the past week. No one knows why. When Paddy gets a call about noise coming from his house, he runs home worried sick that Aaron has lost his head again.
A/N: I love this pairing. I absolutely cannot believe there are hardly any fanfics for them! Well, I will write them! Thank you for reading. Review, please.
At Least They're Not Fighting
It was a small thing at first, starting out so innocently that Paddy thought nothing of it. Jackson and Aaron would throw small jabs at each other, picking at attire, appetite, and mistakes. At first, they would both laugh. There would be a playful nudge of the shoulder, a grin from both parties before they parted to their respective jobs each morning. Regular couple fits. Nothing to be worried about. At that point, they were still sneaking kisses behind Paddy's back. Still sleeping in the same room. Still staring at each other when the other wasn't looking. All was right with the world.
But things escalated as things so often do when going unchecked. The barbs became meaner, Aaron's tone of voice gruff and cynical. Jackson would take it good-naturedly, claiming to be wounded before shirking off without a morning kiss or even a smile. When Jackson took a stab at Aaron, Aaron would duck his head, scoff, and eat his food in silence. Paddy dismissed this as well as the stresses of putting up with each other every day set in. It was normal when moving in with someone to have a period of distress while each acclimated. He knew this and hoped it would pass.
Nothing passed. Throughout the rest of the week as the boys worked harder and longer than ever, they barely acknowledged one another without a screaming match. Usually it was Aaron screaming, but Jackson had a set of lungs on him that Paddy had never imagined. He could out yell even Aaron and stand toe-to-toe with the hood all by himself. He never even flinched. For that, Paddy had to respect him. Eventually, Aaron would give in like a dog who had tried to eat a porcupine. He would snort his distress and leave the room. Jackson would respectfully apologize to the witness Paddy and offer to make dinner. When Paddy denied him, he'd stalk off to the living room and lay down on the couch to watch tv until morning when the pattern could begin again.
When Paddy confided in his best friend Marlon, Marlon did not seem surprised. He shrugged, said he was sorry to hear that they weren't getting on, and offered his condolences. Jackson was the first man that Aaron had ever dated, and it surely wasn't going to last forever. One of them would have enough and break it off. Paddy wasn't sure Aaron could handle that, so he tried to get the boys to make up as much as he could. He talked to Jackson and implored him to make peace with his boyfriend. He begged Aaron to calm down and be grateful that Jackson was even there. Neither would listen, and so things continued.
About a week had passed in the awkward stage of fight after fight when Paddy entered the kitchen to see the two of them brooding over breakfast. Both were in their pajamas, Jackson's eyes so dark with exhaustion the boy looked fit to fall over at any minute. He was staring intently at his eggs, the rise and fall of his chest so slow that Paddy wondered if he wasn't asleep. Aaron, meanwhile, regarded his cup of coffee, both hands clasped around it. He glanced up.
"Eh, aren't you two supposed to be off soon?" Paddy asked as he entered the room.
"Nope," answered Aaron simply.
Jackson sniffed and started into awareness, shooting Paddy a smile with glazed eyes. "Exhausted from the week. Been trying to save up money, but it's killing me. I'm not going in today."
"He's not feeling well," Aaron said a bit smugly.
"I'm fine," Jackson snapped.
"You're sick?" Paddy intervened, not wanting Aaron to aggravate the boys condition if he really was ill. "Do you need me to stay? Or call the doctor?"
"No, no!" he protested. "I reckon I'll be all right. I'll just stay off me feet today and get some rest. I don't want to pull you from your job, Paddy."
Nodding, not quite satisfied but not wanting to press the issue, Paddy turned to Aaron. "Are you gonna watch him? Make sure he gets on all right?"
"He's a grown man!" Aaron exclaimed, getting up from the table and dumping his coffee down the drain. "He knows how to handle being sick."
"Right better than you do, I think," Jackson sniffed. "I'll be all right. Nothing to worry yourself over. I won't be a bother."
"If you're sure, then I'll be off," he replied warily, watching as Aaron took the seat opposite Jackson and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. He didn't have to go to work that day, and Paddy wondered just how much they could stand of each other when Jackson wasn't in good spirits. With hesitation in his every step, he gathered his things and gently closed the door. The boys didn't speak to each other the entire time he was getting ready and didn't start even after he shut the door.
"Turn the channel, will you? I can't stand to watch this rubbish," Aaron groaned, covering his eyes from the dancing cartoon character on the screen. Honestly with all the cartoons Jackson watched, Aaron was surprised his mind had developed beyond five years old.
"No one said you had to watch TV in here with me, did they? Go upstairs if this is bothering you," Jackson replied calmly, snuggling up beneath the wool blanket even further. Aaron leaned forward on his knees.
"Where else would I watch TV, you idiot? It's not like we have one in every room." The oscillating fan made another round and blew at Jackson's hair when he turned to glare at his boyfriend.
"Then go on the computer," he replied simply.
"And do what?"
"I dunno, but quit bothering me."
Aaron laughed darkly at his gall. "Are you serious? Me quit bothering you? I've been putting up with you all week!" He leaned back in the chair.
"And you think it's been just a jolly good time hanging out with you all week? You know, I don't know what your problem is, but you best get over it real quick. I don't have the energy to fight with you," Jackson bit out.
"Are you having a go at me?" Aaron demanded, standing up with a swiftness that slightly startled Jackson. He whipped off the covers and stood up himself.
"Why does it matter? You'll just walk off again. Too afraid to face the truth."
"And what's that? I already admitted I'm gay. I live with two blokes, one of which I was snogging until about a week ago. You're here, aren't you? What have you got to complain about now?" Aaron shouted, turning off the TV.
The tension between them cracked as Jackson broke out into a huge grin. He ducked his head, trying to hide it, before glancing up to look into Aaron's startling blue eyes. "That's what this is about, isn't it?" he laughed. "That's what this whole week has been about, hasn't it? Because I've been working so much. That's why we keep fighting like an old married couple."
Aaron swallowed at the word 'couple'. He still didn't quite believe they were that yet. It couldn't be that easy. Wetting his lips, he realized that maybe Jackson was right. "You think that's the whole reason we've been taking the mickey out of each other? Because what? We've been working too hard." He didn't believe it. It sounded too stupid.
Jackson sniffed again, his sinuses clogged up, and leaned closer to Aaron. "We'd been getting on great before I started this new job. What else could it be? You miss me, don't you?"
Aaron snorted and made a face. "One minute you're ready to have a go at me, the next you're wanting a snog. You're a complete nutter, you know that?"
"I missed you, too," Jackson replied. Aaron paused, eyes lowering to take in the full shape of his lover's mouth. Breath heated by a fever caressed his face. The smell of cologne and soap and Jackson filled the air. Aaron didn't even jump when Jackson put a hand on his chest.
Aaron swallowed. "Must be the fever, this."
The sexual tension between them snapped like lightning, the thread finally cut, and Jackson leaned up to devour Aaron's mouth with the precision of a man who knew what he wanted. He wrapped his arms around his lover's neck, pressing their bodies together and knocking Aaron back into a shelf. The clattering was loud as old pictures and a vase fell to the ground, but neither cared. Aaron returned the kiss with as much vigor as he could muster, hands sliding up Jackson's baggy t-shirt and caressing his lower back.
The fever made Jackson's skin hot and had him shivering from a little more than the cold touch of Aaron's hands. Still, Aaron wanted to be gentle with him. He pushed back, their mouths attached and working together, and leaned him over the coffee table, for once taking charge in their sexual activities. Jackson threw out an arm and knocked his glass of water over onto the floor, magazines and remotes cast aside so that they could have room. Jackson was hot and hard and demanding against him, not at all submissive even in his illness.
Aaron smiled into the kiss.
Paddy hadn't been able to believe the call when he'd gotten it. Pearl had been too afraid and too busy to go inside. There was an awful lot of noise coming from his house. Vivid pictures from when Aaron had nearly beaten his head in, pictures of pain and suffering, had flashed into his mind followed by guilt and regret. Aaron was headstrong. He didn't always think. Still, Paddy worried for Jackson's safety. He'd had to go home.
Pulling up in the van, he locked it and rushed to the door. There was no noise, now, he noted. Nothing stirred inside. When he opened the kitchen door, everything looked in order. But then, the boys were probably in the living room watching the television.
Maybe there was nothing to worry about after all.
His jaw dropped when he opened the living room door. On the floor under a pile of soft, cushioned blankets were both boys. Naked, but there nevertheless. The oscillating fan swept the room, tousling their hair and cooling off their bodies. Jackson's head lay on Aaron's chest, Aaron's arm around his lover's waist and holding him close. They were both asleep, red faced and unkempt. Paddy felt a bit of blood come up to warm his cheeks. He took his eyes off their sleeping forms to glance around the room. The coffee table was no longer covered in the normal bric-a-brac. All the cups and remotes and things were shoved to the floor haphazardly. A shelf on the other side had fallen down, pictures of Chas and Aaron strewn about. The television was muted.
Irresponsible, messy, and horribly awkward as it was to walk in on them, Paddy had to smile to himself as he shut the door.
At least they weren't fighting anymore.
It's a not-to-be-taken-seriously and short drabble just because I love them so much. If you haven't watched Aaron's Storyline, you really should on youtube. Just look it up. It's an amazing story and these two are so adorable. Review please, and I implore the people who like this couple to write more fics! I need them like a drug!