A week passed by, things seemed to be better as Robert did not take his husband for granted and never ignored him. However, Aaron still had nightmares and would always wake up sweating and heaving. Robert usually woke up to comfort his husband, but this night was different.
Aaron woke up from a nightmare and his mind forced him to have a flashback. He was crying and the pain in his head increased. His vision went blurry and he fell back onto the bed, his back arched and he started to shake. He was fully conscious and he was trying to wake Robert up. He was only having a small fit so Robert did not feel the bed shaking. Aaron was crying and he was trying to say his husband's name, he was trying to hit Robert's arm and he hoped that Robert would wake up.
After fourteen long minutes Aaron stopped shaking, but he could not move. All he could do was cry. After a minute he could move enough to roll onto his side, he spat out the foam in his mouth and he curled up.
Robert woke up at the sound of sobbing, he sat up and he saw that his husband was curled up into a ball, tears drenching the sheets. "Aaron? What's wrong?", Robert asked, gathering up the younger man into an embrace. "Baby?"
Aaron shook in Robert's arms, sad that he had not noticed sooner, "I h-had a... nightmare. It was about what he did to me on my birthday".
Robert hugged his husband closer and he whispered calming words into his ear, "I'm sorry that I didn't wake up, I should've been there for you".
Aaron shook his head as he calmed down, "It's okay, you're here now".
Robert kissed Aaron's head and laid down with the younger man still in his arms, as they both drifted back off.
Alyssa woke up the next day and she ran to her fathers bedroom "Daddy!"
Aaron jolted awake and he jumped out of bed, he opened the door and he saw Alyssa "Princess, what's wrong?"
"Nanna needs help at the pub today." Alyssa answered.
Aaron remembered that Charity had taken some time off to recover. From a cold. "Go and get dressed and we'll go to Nanna's in a bit".
Alyssa skipped off down the hallway to get ready for the day. She grabbed her rabbit teddy and she went to brush her teeth.
Aaron showered and he got dressed, he walked over to the bed and he laid down next to Robert "Don't forget that you promised to help Vic out this morning."
Robert smiled and he kissed Aaron's head "I won't. Are you gonna be okay today?"
Aaron nodded "Yeah, I'll be fine."
Robert gazed into his husband's eyes, "Don't over do it today."
Aaron smiled "I won't". He then hot up and he walked down the stairs.
Alyssa was already downstairs and she had a drink of water in her hand "Daddy, is our house haunted?"
Aaron looked at Alyssa "No the house isn't haunted. Why would ask something like that?"
"You've been screaming a lot at night and you've said that you're scared a lot" Alyssa answered.
"I get nightmares a lot and they scare me, I wake up screaming because of them, but everything is okay". Aaron explained.
"Why do you get scared, daddy?", Alyssa asked.
Aaron thought over his answer thoroughly before he answered, "I dream of monsters, really nasty ones".
Alyssa smiled sweetly, "Then I'll dream of slaying them and saving you, I love you, daddy".
Aaron smiled, his heart warmed by the little girl, "I love you too ... princess".
The two hugged for a bit, before they had breakfast and they headed to the pub. They drove to the village and they walked into the Woolpack, they walked around the bar and Aaron lifted Alyssa up so that she could sit on the bar.
Chas walked into the pub and she smiled at Aaron "Thanks for helping me out today, Sweetheart
"It's no problem, mum. Is it okay if Alyssa stays here so that I can keep an eye on her." Aaron asked.
Chas nodded "Yeah that's fine. I don't mind being with my gorgeous granddaughter" she stroked Alyssa's hair.
Alyssa smiled at Chas "Nanna, is Cain coming here today?"
"He might. Do you want a drink, sweetie?" Chas asked Alyssa.
"Yes please" Alyssa smiled.
Chas poured Alyssa a glass of orange juice and she handed it to the little girl. "Here you go, precious".
"Thank you, Nanna" Alyssa smiled and she sipped her drink of Lemonade.
Aaron helped Chas our at the pub for a few hours, Alyssa was happy to just draw and listen to the music that was playing in the pub.
The door opened and Becks walked in, she saw that Alyssa was sat at the bar and she went to grab the child's arm.
However Aaron looked up and he saw that Becks was trying to take Alyssa "Alyssa, come here now please".
Alyssa ran around the bar and she stood next to Aaron.
"What do you want?" Aaron asked as he glared at Becks.
"I want to take Alyssa home. She's my kid!" Becks shouted.
Alyssa hid behind Aaron and she held onto his hand "I don't want to go with her".
"You're going nowhere, Princess. You're staying with me" Aaron reassured his daughter. He then looked at Chas "Mum, take Alyssa."
"Come on, sweetie. Let's go and find aunty Vic" Chas said as she took Alyssa's hand and the little girl followed her into the backroom.
Aaron then looked at Becks "You're not gonna take her. She doesn't belong to you".
"I'm gonna get her back and you're gonna pay for not giving her back to me!" Becks shouted at Aaron.
"Stay away from my daughter." Aaron bluntly said.
After she had shouted at Aaron a few times, Becks turned and she stormed out of the pub.
Alyssa ran into pub and she hugged Aaron "Daddy, I'm scared".
Aaron hugged Alyssa "I know, Princess. But I promise that I'm not gonna let her take you, you're safe now".
"Take her home, Love. I can handle this place on my own" Chas said as she rubbed Aaron's arm.
"Thanks, mum. Are you sure?" Aaron asked.
"Yeah I'm sure. Thank you for helping me out here, you're a good lad".
"No problem, mum. See ya" Aaron smiled.
"Bye, Nanna" Alyssa smiled at Chas.
"Bye you two" Chas smiled.
Aaron took Alyssa home and the little girl immediately ran up to her room, whilst he went into the living room to do some work on his laptop.
Alyssa was sat in her bedroom, and she was using her felt tip pens to colour over her scars. Pink, purple and blue lines crisscrossed across her arms and she then looked into the mirror. She picked up a green felt tip and she coloured over the scars on her neck. Happy with her work, Alyssa walked downstairs and she found Aaron in the living room.
"Daddy, they're gone" Alyssa said happily.
Aaron looked up and he saw the different colour stripes on Alyssa's arms and legs. He had no words. He put his laptop down and he walked over to his daughter, he crouched down in front of Alyssa "You look beautiful no matter what".
Alyssa looked at her arms "I hate them. I want to make them disappear. It scared me when my mum used to shout at me, and I didn't like it when she burnt me" she looked down and she hugged herself.
Aaron pulled his daughter into a hug "Do you want to talk about it?"
Alyssa nodded but she could not find the right words "How do I talk about it?"
"Why don't you write it down and then I'll read it?" Aaron suggested.
Alyssa nodded, she then went to her room to write how she felt and what had happened to her. After some time she picked up the pieces of paper and she walked downstairs. She handed he papers to Aaron and he sat down to read what she had written, whilst she played with her toys.
Robert walked into the living room and he saw Aaron "Chas just called me. She told me what happened at the pub today".
"You might wanna read this" Aaron said without taking his eyes off of what Alyssa had written.
Robert sat next to Aaron and he looked at what his husband was holding. He started to read the words and he felt tears form in his eyes.
"This is all about what Alyssa went through. Becks burnt her a lot an he boyfriend would strangle her when he was angry with her. No wonder Alyssa gets anxious around people, and why she struggles communicating how she feels. This explains a lot. Aaron said quietly.
"What do we do?" Robert asked.
"We treat her like the normal child she and we keep her safe" Aaron answered.
Alyssa looked up and she saw that Aaron and Robert were looking at her "Have I done something wrong?"
"No, Al. You've done nothing wrong. Come'ere, sweetheart" Robert said with kindness in his eyes and in his voice.
Alyssa stood up and she walked over to the sofa, she sat between Aaron and Robert.
"We're so proud of you. You mean more to us than anything in the world" Aaron said as he hugged his daughter
"I love you, Daddy. And I love you, Dad". Alyssa smiled when Aaron hugged her.
Robert smiled and he hugged Alyssa "I love you too, Al".
Alyssa became more scared over time and her nightmares returned. Aaron was still suffering from constant nightmares , but he would always comfort Alyssa and then once she had settled he would go back to bed. Robert was being put under more and more pressure because of work, he and Aaron became distant and they started to argue again.
Aaron and Robert were at the scrapyard, Robert slammed his laptop shut and he stood up. Aaron looked up and he saw that Robert was angry.
"Rob, what's wrong?" Aaron asked.
"What's right? Work's stressing me out and you're not helping!" Robert shouted.
"What did I do wrong?" Aaron asked.
"You're always so clingy and annoying!" Robert shouted before he stormed out of the portercabin.
Aaron sat there for a moment, he was confused by what had just happened. He stood up and he walked out of the portercabin, he saw that Robert was stood outside and he walked over to his husband "What's happened?"
"Stress is getting to me and I just need a break from everything" Robert answered.
"Go home and have a lie down. I'll finish up here" Aaron said as he rubbed Robert's arm.
Robert left without saying goodbye and he drive back to Homefarm. He laid down on the sofa and he fell asleep. He woke up when he heard his phone ringing, he looked at his phone and he saw that Diane was calling him. He diverted the call and he went back to sleep.
Aaron went to the village to get a coffee from the cafe and he saw Diane. "Hi, Diane. You alright?"
Diane sat next to Aaron "Hiya, Love. Have you seen Robert today?"
"Yeah, he went home earlier because he was stressed" Aaron answered.
"Could you tell him that, I need to speak to him about planning Victoria's and Adam's anniversary party?" Diane asked.
"Yeah sure" Aaron smiled.
"Good lad. I have to go so I'll see ya later" Diane said as she stood up.
"See ya, Diane" Aaron said.
Diane left the cafe and she went to the B&B to get some work done.
Aaron sat there as he thought about what he could do to help Robert. 'What's going on with him? I hope that we sort this out sooner or later, I don't want to have to keep arguing with him'.