Paddy drove them back to Chas's, the car journey silent and uncomfortable. Aaron couldn't stop thinking about Jackson, about the fire, about Freddie. It was all too much for him. He couldn't lose Jackson. Without Jackson he would not cope. He was his rock. He'd never really gotten that saying before, but now he did. It had hit him hard.

"Sugar? Milk?" Chas asked Paddy, spooning heaps of sugar into Aaron's cup of tea.

"Milk, yes." Paddy stumbled, snapping out of his train of thought. Chas was busy making tea and coffee while Paddy sat with her in the kitchen as Aaron took a shower. As soon as they got inside, Chas guided Aaron to the bathroom and told him to shower, as she made them all a cup of tea and him something to eat. She'd nicked some of Katie's boyfriends clothes and left them just outside the bathroom door, ready for when Aaron finished. All of his own clothes were merely ash now and burnt remains.

"What we gonna do Paddy?" Chas wondered handing him his tea.

"I don't know Chas." Paddy sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Just be there for him."

"Poor Freddie and Aaron." Chas stated. "If Jackson does pull through this, it's still not over. Their house, their home! It's ash now. They have nothing."

"Chas!" Paddy cried out, hushing her. "Careful."

"He can't here. He's in the shower." Chas hissed, preoccupying herself with making Aaron something to eat for when he returned from the shower.

Twenty minutes later he was still in the shower. Under the steady down pour of the water he found it easy to let his thoughts run away with him. He couldn't bare to lose him. Just the thought made his stomach plummet and his heart clench. He was rudely roused from his thoughts when Chas began banging on the bathroom door.

"Aaron!" Chas called through the door, worry laced her distinctive tones. "Aaron love! I've made you something to eat."

Aaron cleared his throat and wiped the water out of his eyes. "I'll be out in a minute!"

"Okay love. I've left some clothes out here for you." Chas told him before leaving him alone.

He quickly lathered up shampoo in his hair and rinsed out the bubbles before turning the jet off and stepping out of the shower, wrapping a towel round his waist before opening the bathroom door. He took the pile of clothes back into the bathroom were he got dressed into them. Katie's boyfriend had a completely different taste to what he did. Chas had found him a pair of dark jeans and a dark fitted polo shirt. He assumed it was designer by the funny embroidered logo on the left of his chest. He didn't care, he wanted to eat whatever his mother had created, have a quick nap and then run off to the hospital again.

Paddy and Chas had watched him while he sat at the kitchen table, eating whatever Chas had made him. He wasn't paying attention. He was on auto-pilot, doing whatever pleased them so he could get back to Jackson quicker.

"Finished?" Chas asked as soon as Aaron polished off the bacon sandwich she had made.

Aaron nodded just before Chas took the plate and ditched it in the sink.

"I should be getting back now." Paddy excused himself, standing from his seat at the table. "We'll make sure Freddie's well looked after so don't you worry and I'll bring over some of your things you left at Smithy in the morning."

"Thanks Paddy." Aaron thanked him, forcing a smile of gratitude.

"Just you take it easy." Paddy told him. "He'll pull through."

"I'll see you out." Chas said, making her way into the hallway after Paddy.

By the time Chas returned from seeing Paddy off, Aaron was fast asleep on the sofa. He looked so innocent and untroubled lying peacefully on the purple sofa. She pulled a throw from out of one of cupboards and draped it over her son, careful not to wake him. He was going to sleep as much as he could, if she had her way. She hated seeing him so worried. He didn't deserve any of this. Aaron had already been through too much in his young life, at twenty three, he'd experienced far too much. She was hoping and praying he wouldn't experience being a single parent at twenty three and mourn for his lover.

He couldn't remember where he was when he first woke. Still tired and sleepy he stretched his arms above his head as he listened. Chas and Katie were in the next room, chatting while the radio played in the background. Opening his eyes he was assaulted by the bright sunlight streaming in through a gap in the living room curtains. He flung the throw he found laying over him to the side and stood up, wondering into the room he could Chas and Katie talking.

"Morning love." Chas smiled at him, placing her cup of tea on the side. "Can I get you anything?"

"Nah, I'm alright." Aaron mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He caught Katie looking at him sympathetically.

"You sure? Paddy dropped some of your clothes off. Not sure if they'll still fit you, they're years old." Chas commented to gesturing to the pile of clothes folded on the kitchen table. "I'll make you a cup of tea, anyway."

She had started fussing. Aaron didn't say anything as he took the clothes and disappeared into the bathroom to return a few minutes later. The clothes did still fit him. He'd not worn trackies and a hoodie since he was a teenager, but he could still pull them off. He bumped into Katie's boyfriend, Sean, in the hallway.

"You alright?" Sean asked having been informed by Katie and Chas and half the village about the fire.

"Great." Aaron answered him sarcastically.

"Sorry, stupid question." Sean mumbled.

Aaron raised his eyebrows, in a yeah-I-Know manner before stalking back into the kitchen.

"Mum, can I borrow some money?" Aaron asked embarrassed he needed to ask. All his debit cards and change had been destroyed in the fire last night, along with all their other belongings.

"Yeah sure, how much?" Chas asked him, already rummaging in her handbag for her purse.

"Enough for a bus fare to Hotton general." Aaron told her, hands in his pockets.

"Aaron, we can take you in a bit." Katie told him. "Sean won't mind driving you and Chas there, will you Sean?"

Sean who had just entered the kitchen nodded his head. "No, course not. Was about to offer, myself actually."

"Let me just got get sorted and we can go." Chas told them, rushing out of the room. She didn't want to hold Aaron up seeing Jackson. She wouldn't do that to her son. She knew how much he was hurting being away from him while he was lying in the hospital.