Chapter Two

Aaron went straight for the bar and sat as far on the left side as possible, as that was the least populated area. It was still too early for him to engage people and he wasn't a very engaging person in general anyway. He thought coming into a gay bar would answer all his questions, it would be an ideal place, like a sacred sanctuary for gay people, but that wasn't the case. He was uncomfortable and his paranoia levels were building up rapidly. The woman behind the counter was taken aback when he ordered a pint of beer, and he was certain that everyone also sitting along the bar were staring at him. During the brief moments he shook off his paranoia, he looked around the bar to see if there was anyone that he wouldn't mind talking to, although sitting behind a giant pillar that clouded most of his view of the bar didn't help. Aaron couldn't resign himself to having feelings for anyone here, whether he was purposely holding back, or there was genuinly just no one decent, he didn't know.

"Yes!" Jackson's opponent cheered, signalling another loss for Jackson. For Jackson and his mates, pool was played as a drinking game, and when you lost a game, you had to drink a plethora of alcohol. Jackson started out the night with the intention of not drinking, but of course was convinced otherwise. As he started to loosen up, he told his mate to request a song, as the current music playing was "rubbish". His drunken friend stumbled over to the DJ and had him put on the newest Lady Gaga song, to which he got up on a table and started reincating the dance to. Seeing as Jackson was the most sober, he had to help his friend down off the table before something bad happened. Jackson grabbed his mate's legs and lifted him off the table, as he wasn't terribly heavy, and Jackson was quite strong, and helped him to the ground, but on doing so, his mate fell forward and spilled his pint down Jackson's back.

"Aww thanks a lot mate, me back is ringing", he moaned, but his mate just laughed and stumbled off.

"Ugh Lady Gaga, what shite", Aaron mumbled to himself. He was going to get another drink to help his confidence but used the song as an excuse to go the bathroom, to break away from the atmosphere of the bar for a while. He assumed the toilets would be quieter but alas he was mistaken. Two guys were kissing in the only cubicle so Aaron was forced to take a leak at one of the urinals. When a middle aged man came over and used the urinal beside Aaron, he panicked, and quickly zipped up his jeans.

"Don't stop on my account", the man winked, but that just further unsettled Aaron. The cubicle was now free so he ran in there and locked the door, trying to regather his thoughts, and his sanity.

He sat on the toilet, face in hands, for about seven minutes, and when the place fell silent, he decided to make a run for it. He went to the sinks, washed his hands and rubbed water on his face. Suddenly, the door flew open with the sound of two people talking, masculine voices actually, something which Aaron hadn't heard much of tonight. He was still rubbing his eyes with his wet hands but he jumped up when the sound of the hand dryer startled him. Aaron froze momentarily. Two guys were stood beside it, the black guy he had seen entering the pub earlier talking to the checkered shirt guy who was now holding his shirt in his hands underneath the dryer while his fantastically toned body was on show for Aaron to see. His heart skipped a beat, then another. When this man looked at him he looked away quickly, not wanting to seem wierd. This was the first time Aaron had felt this all night. He felt attracted to the man, but these feelings were still a little hazy in his head.

"Its alright, you can look if you want", Jackson said, nudging his head towards his body when he noticed Aaron staring. However he didn't quite get the reaction he wanted. Aaron's eyes widened and he raced out of the toilets. He didn't know what to do. Was that guy flirting? Was he meant to flirt back? How would he do that.

Aaron wanted to leave but at the same time he wanted to stay. He wanted to wait until he saw this man clothed, and see if he felt the same way. Someone had taken his seat by the bar so he sat down in the only empty seat - by the pool table of course.

Jackson came out of the bathroom, shirt now on again, and resumed his game of pool with his friends. Aaron was sat only feet away from him, and couldn't help take his eyes off of him, although he managed to look away whenever the man looked over in his direction.

"Come on Jackson, you have to pull tonight", one of his mates teased. His friends were all preoccupied by other guys now and Jackson was starting to feel the lonliness.

"There has to be someone here you like, or you want to get stuck in with, right?". The question prompted Jackson to eye up the bar, scoping out any potential candidates. His back was faced to Aaron and he was about to give up when he heard a phone ring behind him. Normally you couldn't hear mobiles but it was inbetween songs where the DJ was making announcement about cheap drinks on Friday nights, so the place was momentarily silent.

Aaron's face reddened. Typical timing. He jabbed away at the buttons of his phone in his pocket trying to make it stop, and eventually did just as he pulled it out. A few eyes were now on him which didn't help his paranoia. It was a text from Victoria. He hid his face in the text to hide himself from the eager eyes of the Bar West crowd, but when he finally read the text, he realised Victoria was just rambling on about how scared she is for her GCSEs, which Aaron wasn't bothered to reply to, well not now anyway. With the intention to write back eventually, he placed the phone on his coat beside him, instead of putting it back in his pocket.

Jackson's mates noticed him eyeing Aaron up and urged him to make a move, but Jackson was a little underconfident, especially as the confidence the alcohol gave him was wearing off at this stage. He made an agreement with one of his mates though, that if he lost another game of pool, he would have to pluck up the courage to talk to the awkward lad on his own behind them. His nerves got the best of him during the game but him and his opponent levelled themselves down to the final ball together. Jackson had a pretty easy shot to take, but when he heard a loud sneeze from behind him, just as he was taking the shot, he jumped and messed up his shot, resulting in not putting the ball. Jackson turned around to give him a look as if to say "thanks for making me mess up the shot".

Aaron's cheeks blushed as he tried to keep his sneeze quiet but failed miserably. He saw a man at the bar staring him up with a disgusted face which made Aaron grin and laugh to himself. On doing so, he looked up to see the checkered shirt man staring back at him, making a face at him which he couldn't work out, but then he noticed that the man's expression changed to a smile because he thought Aaron was smiling at him. Once again Aaron blushed and buried his head in his pint.

Jackson's mate finished the game off with a fell swoop of the pool cue causing Jackson to lose the game, and the agreement he had made. He swallowed a lump in his throat and turned around to the guy behind him.

"Fancy a game?" He said lifting up the cue. Aaron's eyes widened again.

"Er, sorry, I can't." His hands and lip began to tremble now. His heart was beating too fast for him to think rationally.

"Come on, what harm will it do?" Jackson pressed, hoping for a positive answer, but he got the complete opposite. Aaron jolted up, jacket in hand and uttered the word "sorry" as he shot past Jackson for the door. Oblivious to Aaron, his phone rolled off his jacket when he picked it up and it was now sitting in Jackson's palm. Jackson tried to chase after him but Aaron was out of there like a light. Suddenly, the phone vibrated in Jackson's hand and he accidently opened the message.

From: Paddy. 23:45; Hey Aaron, I'm home now so don't forget to lock up when you come back.

Obviously this "Paddy" lived with Aaron, so Jackson hit the reply button and left Paddy a message about the phone.