Disclaimer: The characters and overreaching plot belongs to ITV Studios. This is a work of fiction. I do not earn any money out of this. No Copyright infringement intended. I can only claim ownership of my original plot and characters, which does not appear in the show, its movies or other official media.

It had gone several days since Aaron met Jackson at the Christmas party. Aaron were torn between anger over not getting Jackson's phone number and sadness over that maybe Jackson wasn't into him. He couldn't understand why it affected him this badly. He had only seen him once and part of him said that he should get over the rejection while another part of him wished he could see Jackson again. In order to keep himself occupied from the storm of thoughts in his mind he had helped Paddy and Rhona prepare Smithy Cottage for Christmas. He was planning on celebrating Christmas with them rather than with his actual family. His mother was also getting married to Carl King. At first he had been angry at her but then she told him it was just a scheme of getting his money. It pleased him and he wanted to go to the marriage just to see the look on Carl's face. Until then, he had stuff to do.

-ooOOoo-

Aaron entered through the door of the shop and browsed through the magazines. While he was doing that he overheard Viv talking with a customer about something. There was something in the voice which stirred Aaron's attention and he looked over to the counter. As he laid eyes on the other customer it felt like his heart skipped a beat. The brown hair, sharp cheekbones, warm voice and if he could see better maybe even those chocolate brown eyes, it had to be Jackson! Aaron nervously switched his footing, unsure on how to proceed. On one hand, the guy abandoned him but on the other hand… he couldn't stop thinking about him. Then the guy turned to leave the shop but he stopped dead in his tracks. Jackson gave Aaron a look-over and his expression of surprise soon got replaced with a smile as he made his way over to him. Viv as the gossiper she often were gave the young two a raised eyebrow. A silence then fell between them.

"Alright?" Aaron managed to ask after a moment or two.

"It's all good. You?" Jackson answered with a smile.

"It's going alright… Look, about that party…" Aaron started.

"Oh don't tell me, you're straight and I made an utter fool of myself?" Jackson asked, followed by a snort from Viv. Aaron scowled at her before he looked back at Jackson.

"No, I am not straight," Aaron explained.

"Oh, good then," Jackson responded with another smile. "At least I got to keep some of my dignity then," he then added.

"Yeah… So why are you here?"

"I am doing some work up at Home Farm for Mr. Macey. You live around here?"

"Yeah, I work as a mechanic at my cousin's garage."

"It's a nice village. I have gathered that it's a tight knitted community too. I have only been here a few hours and already everyone seems to know where I work!" Jackson said with a chuckle. Aaron smiled in return.

"Yeah, it's like that a lot," Aaron then replied.

"So…" Jackson then begun.

"So what?" Aaron responded with a scowl.

"About that party. You wanted to tell me something?"

"Yeah… where did you go off to? I thought I would see you later…"

"Oh yeah, it's a funny story actually," Jackson started but got interrupted by a comment from Viv.

"Are you going to buy that?" she asked and pointed to the magazine in Aaron's grasp. Aaron looked down at it before he resumed looking at her.

"Oh. No," he replied.

"If you're not buying anything then there's no reason for you to be here. It's a shop, not some social place where you can talk with your lovers, or whatever place your people go to," Viv responded. She got another scowl from Aaron and a raised eyebrow from Jackson at that. Aaron then returned the magazine and headed out of the shop and Jackson followed him. Once they were outside Aaron stood with his back turned against Jackson. He needed a quick moment to think and he bit his lip in thought. Once his head was a bit clearer he turned back to Jackson who gave him an awkward smile.

"Look if you don't want me around just tell me and I'll just leave you alone," Jackson apologized.

"No, it's not like that. Viv is just doing my head in as she does with half the village," Aaron responded.

"She she seemed a bit… too much y'know," Jackson replied with a smile. Aaron smiled at him.

"So… you were saying?"

"Oh, right. Well one of my mates had a bit of trouble and I had to go and help him. It took most of the night but he's alright now. That's why I didn't come back to enjoy your very intriguing conversations" Jackson explained with a slightly cheeky tone.

"What sort of trouble?" Aaron then asked.

"Well, he got himself drunk and got stuck with his foot in a toilet… don't ask me why he thought that would be a good idea. So I had to help him come loose and give him lift into the hospital," Jackson elaborated.

Aaron couldn't help himself from chuckling at that. "So you hadn't drunk anything?" he then asked.

"No. I was going to give some other mates lift that night. But if the police had stopped me I may have gotten pulled over since your breath stunk of alcohol. It wouldn't surprise me if it transfered somehow," Jackson teased.

"Oh, you're quite the comedian aren't you? Like that would ever happen," Aaron responded and rolled his eyes.

"It could have. Look, I need to get back to work now but it was nice seeing you again Aaron," Jackson then said. Aaron nodded and watched him walk away. Then he changed his mind and jogged up to him.

"Jackson, wait!" he exclaimed. Jackson stopped and turned around to him.

"Missing me already?" Jackson teased in return. Aaron ignored him and pulled out his mobile.

"Would you like to have my number? Maybe we could go for a drink later at the Woolie?" he asked a bit nervously. Jackson smiled at him and pulled out a card from his pocket.

"Yeah I would like that. Now here's my card, in case you need a builder… or a drinking partner," he replied. They then exchanged phone numbers and Aaron watched as Jackson walked off with a big smile on his face.

-ooOOoo—

For the rest of the day Aaron was in an unusually good mood. His colleague Ryan even got a bit worried over it as Aaron usually went through the day with a scowl on his face. Around lunch time Aaron was constantly checking his phone for a text or anything from Jackson. The other guy hasn't sent anything though. Aaron was aware that he maybe was borderline desperate and he did a huge effort in not checking too much. As he sat with Ryan and Cain in the Woolie and eating his lunch, Ryan brought his cheerfulness up in conversation.

"So mate, what have you done to be in such a good mood?" he commented.

"Nowt. Even so, it's not any of your business," Aaron responded and took a gulp of his beer.

"You must have done something," Cain commented. "Have you won the lottery? Done something to Carl King? I heard someone sliced his tires not long ago," he then added.

"Well it wasn't me! Must be someone else he has riled up," Aaron replied with a scowl on his face.

"So what is it then mate? C'mon you can tell us, we're your mates," Ryan tried again. Aaron just rolled his eyes and refused to respond.

While they were sitting in the Woolie Adam and Scarlet walked in through the doors and up to the bar. When they were waiting for their drinks Adam leaned against the counter. As he spotted Aaron he waved over at him and Aaron raised his beer in return. Suddenly Jackson came through the door in company with Declan, Mia and Ella. Jackson was involved in a discussion with Declan while Ella looked mildly bored. Mia on the other hand smiled over at Adam who smiled in return, to Scarlet's dismay. When Aaron spotted Jackson his pulse went up and his eyes lingered on the other man.

"Isn't that the new builder in town? I heard from Katie that he was doing some work for Declan," Ryan commented. Cain just gave the young man a look before returning to his meal. Then Ryan poked Aaron in the side. Aaron glared at him in return.

"What did you do that for?" Aaron asked.

"You're staring. Don't tell me you had gotten heads to heads with him?" Ryan asked.

"I haven't. Just chill out will ya?"

Adam had also spotted the builder. It had caused him to raise his eyebrows in surprise as he recognized the guy. He then glanced over at Aaron. He could see that Aaron was playing it cool but something told him that it was just a façade. The fact that Aaron and Jackson exchanged a few meaningful gazes didn't help. As Jackson took a seat with Declan and his family, Aaron had a hard time looking away. It caused Jackson to give him a cheeky smile across the room in return. Meanwhile Adam and Scarlet walked across the room towards a free table for themselves. Adam however stopped by Aaron's table to exchange a few words with his mate.

"Isn't that the guy you met at the party last weekend?" he asked and looked over at Jackson.

"Yeah," Aaron replied without much elaboration.

"What kind of party was that?" Cain suddenly pitched in. He had seen the way the boys were looking at each other. That caused him to develop a strong hunch about how they knew each other.

"It was a Christmas party with some of Scarlet's friends. Don't get any ideas Cain," Aaron cut him off. But Cain just smirked in return. Adam got a feeling that Aaron didn't want to discuss his love life in front of his uncle and he simply gave Aaron a nod before heading over to Scarlet.

-ooOOoo-

The rest of Aaron's lunch went on without any troubles and he left together with Ryan and Cain later on. He had seen Declan and his family leave earlier and therefore he assumed that Jackson had done that too. When he approached the garage however, he spotted a blue truck with "Jackson Walsh Construction" typed along the side. He glanced over at Cain and Ryan before he headed up the van, just as Jackson came by. They gave each other an awkward look.

"So this is your van then?" Aaron finally asked.

"Yes it is. I don't tend to write my name on stuff I don't own. The van may be a bit old but it's reliable," Jackson replied. He then looked over at the garage. "You work there?"

"Yes I do," Aaron answered.

"OK. Those other two blokes you sat with... friends of yours?"

"That was Ryan and my uncle Cain, I work with them. So what kind of work does you do up at Home Farm?"

"Well I am going to start working at Dale Head sometime next year. Until the weather gets better I'm doing some upkeep in the houses around here. That dark haired bloke... he kept smirking at me."

"That's my uncle Cain. Just ignore him, he tends to be a muppet at times. So are you still up for that drink then?"

"Yep, see you later then, yeah?"

"Sure," Aaron replied with a smile on his face. He then headed back to the garage for some work. Perhaps this Christmas wouldn't be such a bad one after all.