AARON & JACKSON

-1912: The Aftermath-

"Wake Up Call"

The small green area by their house was quiet; no sounds could be heard except from the light wind, the branches on the trees swayed gently under its influence. It was a cool day and the clouds were dark, bad weather was setting in. Aaron stood with the help of his crutches a few metres behind the bench Jackson was sitting on presumably lost in his own thoughts. Aaron frowned and looked up at the dark grey clouds and made a connection; that they were exactly how their relationship was at the moment, cloudy. Clouded by anger, sadness and an insurmountable amount of pain, all those things had come lashing down in a few extreme storms. Those clouds had to go away, it was time.

"I-I" Aaron stopped at the words caught in his throat; he could feel himself welling up already. He took in a deep breath and blinked in an attempt to hold back the tears for now, at least. "I've been selfish" he declared and then he began to move forward into Jackson's view. With no reply or acknowledgement from his boyfriend Aaron sat on the bench beside him facing him. "Talk to me Jackson. I-I understand why you gave the story to that creep, I-I do…" he began to panic for fear of losing Jackson and the tears that fell seconds later showed how much he didn't want that to happen. "L-Listen, I" he sighed and took a breath to calm himself for a second then he tried again. "I had a wakeup call"

Jackson lifted his head and looked at Aaron with a frown. Aaron frowned himself too as the memory resurfaced and he looked down at the ground.

…..

With the slam of the door Adam charged up the stairs and barged into Aaron and Jackson's bedroom. "You're such an idiot Aaron! Get up off your arse right now! He's stormed out what you going to do about it?"

Aaron sat up and the frown on his face was seen by Adam. "Sit here and feel sorry for myself"

Adam rolled his eyes with a sigh. "You're so cocky sometimes; you haven't got a clue how lucky you are Aaron! You've got an amazing home, a good life and a man who worships the ground you walk on" he was on a tangent now. "…And for some unfathomable reason you treat him like shit! What the hell is wrong with you?" Adam demanded loudly.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders as he stared down at the bed.

Instantly Adam's jaw was clenched and he moved forward quickly and got in Aaron's face. "What? You starting to realise now are ya?"

"What do you want me to do?" Aaron asked as he looked back up at him, the tears brimming in his eyes caused Adam to soften and he stepped back.

"You need to get up, go and find him but if you're so blind you can't see that he did it for you…then…you don't deserve his love. If that's the case then stay here" Adam paused but his tirade continued seconds later. "And can you not imagine what it took for him to even consider talking to that idiot? But yet he did it FOR YOU"

Aaron sniffled as the tears were constantly flowing.

"You've got five seconds to get up before I drag you downstairs and shove you out that damned door!"

Aaron frowned, trying to think but he couldn't Adam was bombarding him.

"1….2" Adam began.

Aaron let out a loud sigh and his shoulders slumped. "Why you doing this?"

"Because I care is it not obvious?" more silence passed between them "3…"

Aaron blew out a steady breath then held up his hand for Adam to take, which he did and helped Aaron up.

"Go on, go and find him"

Aaron nodded as he grabbed his crutches and left the bedroom.

…..

"Jackson I'm sorry" Aaron told him, his tone was sincere.

Jackson blinked as he zoned in on what Aaron was saying. "You still want to knock my head off my shoulders?" he asked quietly.

Aaron frowned harshly. "What? No…" he sighed. "I-I didn't mean it. I was angry, I'd never hurt you Jackson, you must know that?" he asked just as the rain began to pour – as expected.

Jackson looked up at the sky with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "You scare me sometimes Aaron"

Aaron nodded. "I scare myself"

"You just need to think and hopefully realise why I did it. It wasn't easy for me. On some level I lowered myself to his and I hated it"

"C-Come on let's get back inside" Aaron suggested but Jackson declined with a shake of his head.

"If I had to do it all again, just to keep you from the possibility of prison, then I would"

Aaron looked at him lovingly and proud. "You always seem so strong Jackson"

"I have to be" Jackson replied as he gave a gentle smile in Aaron's direction.

"No, no you don't…for a while there I forgot that you are hurting aswell" Aaron explained himself and bit his lower lip as he mulled over his words. "I've been so selfish" he admitted it as the tears came back with full force. "But not anymore, I'm here for you as much as you are for me. I really hope you know that?"

In that second and in response to Aaron's words Jackson let out a sob that broke Aaron's heart, the sadness from the cry was plain to see on Aaron's face as he quickly closed the gap between them and placed his arm around him pulling him in closer. "I'm so sorry please forgive me" he whispered in his ear. "Please I-I know I've been horrible, too much to handle lately and I can make it up to you p-please just don't go"

Jackson shook his head as he cried. "I-I'm not going anywhere" he told him as he lifted his head and stared into Aaron's shiny yet red teary eyes. "I told you I'd never go anywhere and I meant it Aaron. The only thing I'm sorry for is going behind your back, but not the rest because I-"

"I know" Aaron managed a smile. "You did it for us"

Jackson nodded. "I won't go behind your back again"

"And I'll, well I'll calm my little self-down" he smirked.

Jackson couldn't help the smile growing on his face. "That'd be good"

Aaron nodded. "You're shivering"

"So are you" Jackson replied as they looked into each other's eyes, a look that gave the impression that time and everything around them had stopped.

Aaron shrugged and slowly began to move closer, both aware of what was about to happen. Aaron then raised his rain soaked hand and gently cupped Jackson's wet face.

Jackson's heart skipped a beat and he swallowed hard. "Kiss me" he ordered in a husky, quiet voice, the moment entrancing him, as if under a spell, a spell he didn't want to break free from yet. His lips, his soft lips on his and the stubble on his chin rubbing against his own aroused him no end, and as Aaron's tongue slowly entered his mouth Jackson kissed back, tasting him and rubbing his tongue against Aaron's, the deep passionate kiss lasted several seconds until they parted for air, when they did their eyes opened once again onto each other's, smile's owning their lips. "Let's go home"

"Sounds good to me" Aaron smiled widely at him. "Fancy taking a bath with me?"

"What about the cast?" Jackson asked as he stood up and helped Aaron to his feet.

"Oh that's no trouble, it can hang over the edge" he explained with a really serious tone which made Jackson chuckle.

Even through the hard times Jackson realised in that moment when the man he loved made him laugh that it was one of many, many reasons why he loved him so dearly and those moments outweighed the bad times, he just had to remember that because in the end, they'd make it through and now he could see that they were almost there.

As they left the deserted rain soaked park they chatted together. "You said I hadn't been sleeping much lately…"

Aaron nodded. "Yeah"

"Which tells me you haven't either, otherwise how would you know?"

Aaron smirked. "We can work on it together"

Jackson smiled gratefully at Aaron, lost in thought at how amazing a person he actually was, it wasn't that he didn't already know but things just reaffirmed it for Jackson. "You know…I really do love you Aaron" he told him as they crossed the road to their home.

"And I love you…so much" Aaron told him definitively. "And when we walk through that front door it's a fresh start from now on, I mean it" he smiled.

Jackson was smiling too. "I like the sound of that. Come on then I'll give you a hand up the steps"

"That'd be great thanks, I'm exhausted, these crutches are great but they really take it out of ya"

"I bet, I know what else does" Jackson told him as he gave him a wink.

"Oh…" he frowned. "Oh yeah! I know what that is" Aaron grinned. "The sooner we get to it we might get a good night's sleep"

"And what if I willingly want to be kept awake all night?"

"Well then I'm sure it can be arranged" Aaron told him as they reached the top of the steps and Jackson opened up the door. "Seems I'm an expert in that"

Jackson smirked. "Oh yeah you're well versed"

Aaron chuckled. "Get in the house you, time to get warmed up"

He did as ordered. "Mmm" Jackson sounded with a smile on his lips as vivid images came to mind.

Aaron followed him in and closed the door behind them. He stood still for a moment getting his breath back and he watched Jackson walk into the kitchen, he was lost in his thoughts. This was the chance of a fresh start like he'd promised and he was going to make sure it was for the both of them.

"Aaron" Jackson called. "You alright?"

"Oh uh, yeah" he smiled. "Won't be a sec" Fresh start he thought Yeah, it's definitely time for one of those

TBC…