CHAPTER III

Robert was still in a state of shock as he pulled up outside Liv's school to pick her up. He would have to start liking Nicola, now. He'd never expected her to have his back the way she had, to care enough to get angry on his behalf. It was strange. He didn't usually misjudge people that badly. He'd really underestimated her; he wouldn't make that mistake again.

Liv waved to Gabby before trudging her way over to the passenger side of his car. She yanked the door open, slamming it behind her after she climbed in. Robert rolled his eyes. He didn't even bother telling her not to be so rough on his car anymore. It was futile and he knew it.

She fiddled with the radio as he pulled out into the street. "How was school?" He asked, smiling at how domestic he sounded.

She raised an eyebrow at him and then turned her attention back to the radio. Robert laughed in response. "Right, okay. Stupid question." They drove in silence, except for the radio, which played something that was barely passable for music.

"Listen, Liv…" Robert spoke up after a while. She looked up at him, recognizing that he wanted to talk about something important from his lead-in. "Aaron mentioned that you two had another chat about you using your money to help pay for a new place for the three of us." Liv looked down at her lap, upset by the reminder of the tiff she'd had with Aaron the night before. "It's really generous of you to offer to pay, Liv. Aaron recognizes that. He knows you're only trying to help. But he really doesn't want to have any part of that money. It makes him really uncomfortable and no amount of logic or reason or… desperation is going to make it feel okay for him to use it. Do you understand?" Liv nodded, her eyes glassy. Robert peeked over at her. "He wasn't upset with you last night, you know." She nodded again, smiling tentatively up at Robert.

"I know." She sighed. "I won't bring up paying for a place with my inheritance again." She frowned and asked. "But how are we going to afford it, then? We can't live in the back of the pub forever."

Robert shrugged. "Aaron and I will figure something out." He turned the volume on the radio up, hoping to distract Liv from that line of questioning. It was only reminding him of the extremely precarious financial situation he and Nicola were now in. He took a deep breath, putting it from his mind.

Liv and Robert were bantering easily back and forth in their usual style by the time they arrived and walked into the pub. Chaz watched Aaron's pleased expression as he looked on, smiling to herself. She laughed as Liv quipped back with such thick sarcasm that Robert was left shaking his head and chuckling as she disappeared to the back. Rob plopped down on the stool beside Aaron, his eyes flickering between their amused expressions. "What?" He asked, baffled.

Aaron laughed and smiled genuinely at his fiancé. "You're really good with her."

Robert raised an eyebrow at Aaron. "We've bonded over our mutual love of sarcasm." He paused and looked at Aaron, a more serious expression coming over his face. "And you, of course." He added on quietly, so only Aaron could hear.

Aaron leaned forward and pecked him on the lips, grinning. "Of course." The two men shared a private look before heading over to join Vic and Adam at their table.

A bit later on, Robert stood to get another round of pints for the group, which now somehow had come to include Diane, Doug, Bernice, and Moira. He heard the pub door open as someone came in, but didn't look up to see who it was. A hand casually placed in the back pocket of his jeans had him turning his head, an annoyed expression on his face, to see Rebecca edging up next to him. "Rebecca." He said warningly, removing her hand from his back pocket.

She fluttered her eyelashes at him and responded innocently. "Oh, don't get all hot and bothered, Rob. I'm just being friendly." She skipped off to sit at a table in the corner where Lawrence sat, scowling at their exchange.

Robert rolled his eyes and then turned to bring the pints to the table. Aaron was glaring at Rebecca, his eyes only leaving her back when Robert sat down. Robert placed a hand inconspicuously on Aaron's knee, feeling him relax at his touch.

The exchange went unmentioned until the two men were heading to the back after saying goodnight to the rest of the party. Robert flinched as Aaron slammed the door behind him as he walked inside.

"She's still after you, Rob." Aaron said abruptly, annoyance adding an edge to his voice.

Robert sighed, immediately knowing he was referring to what had happened earlier. He couldn't help his answer coming out a bit exasperated. "Then she's going to remain disappointed because I'm not the least bit interested." Robert didn't look at Aaron, not wanting to deal with this argument again.

Aaron was still visibly agitated as he stomped his way through to the kitchen, but he didn't say anything else for a few awkwardly silent minutes. The banging of kitchenware had Robert shaking his head and powering on the television to distract him while Aaron organized his thoughts.

He looked up to see Liv giving him puppy dog eyes. "I need help with my business course again. The teacher's crap." Robert laughed, motioning for her to hand him the assignment and take a seat.

After he'd finished helping her work through the parts she didn't understand, Liv sighed contentedly, dropping the finished assignment on the side table and relaxing back into the sofa. She sat back up as a particularly loud bang echoed from the kitchen, where Aaron was still on a rampage. She quirked up an eyebrow at Robert. "What's up with him?"

Robert shook his head, trying but failing not to roll his eyes. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Liv tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at him now. "Did you do something?"

Robert shook his head and she relaxed. "He just needs to let off some steam and then he'll be fine." He turned up the volume on the television and he and Liv spent about fifteen minutes poking fun at reality TV characters before Aaron trudged in and sat heavily on the couch next to them. Liv excused herself conspicuously, then, giving them privacy to work things out.

"Intuitive little teenager, isn't she?" Robert laughed once Liv had gone upstairs. Aaron grunted in response. "Are you still upset?" Robert asked finally, when Aaron didn't break the silence.

Aaron looked at him, annoyed by his placating. "Why doesn't this bother you more, Rob? You've turned her down. You've told her you're not interested. And she's still not backing off. You should be pissed, but instead you're just brushing it off, like it's nothing, like her hitting on you in front of me is totally fine."

Robert's brow furrowed. "Is that what's upsetting you so much? You think it doesn't bother me?" He rubbed a hand over his face sighing. He didn't meet Aaron's eyes, looking instead at the now blank TV screen. "It does bother me Aaron. It bothers me even more because it's blatantly disrespectful to you. I don't want some one-sided flirtation making you question whether I'm committed to you, to us, to…" He waved his hand around carelessly, "to our life together." He still didn't meet his eyes. "It bothers me. There's just nothing I can do about it." His eyes clouded, his mind no longer on Rebecca. He blinked, pulling himself back from the dark direction of his thoughts. "There's nothing I can do, so I try to just brush it off and not let it get to me. What else can I—?" Robert stopped speaking abruptly as Aaron pulled him into his chest, hugging him tightly. "Aaron?" He asked, baffled.

"Sorry." Aaron mumbled into Robert's shoulder, his voice coming out muffled. "I know it's not your fault." Robert hugged him back, enjoying the closeness.

The two sat on the sofa together, their hands intertwined between them, not really watching what was happening on the screen.

Chaz came in a few hours later to find the two men asleep in front of the television, Aaron's head resting on Robert's shoulder. She chuckled and walked over shaking Aaron gently awake.

"Wha—?" Aaron's eyes cracked open. "Mum!" He groaned unhappily. He sat up, looking over at Robert, who was still snoring gently. He smiled sleepily.

Chaz kissed Aaron on the top of his head, before ducking out of the room with an, "I'll let you wake him."

Aaron kissed Robert lightly on the cheek and whispered into his ear. "Wake up, sleepy." Robert's eyes flickered and he groaned. "I know, I know." Aaron said pulling Robert up from the couch and guiding him towards the stairs.

END of CHAPTER III