Right! Windows reinstalled (thank you Sam for the kind offer of help!), laptop apparently working (for now) so all systems are finally go... Even brain seems to have engaged for once! :) And I'm actually in a good mood so Soapie, Shawny and irishgal finally get their wish from back at the start of April! Hope this meets with your approval :D x

Chapter 29

Aaron trotted down the stairs that led into Bar West. He was nervous about what sort of reception he was in for and it was causing him some serious butterflies. The day had turned into one big mess, and whilst both he and Jackson each had reason to be annoyed with the other, the builder wasn't actually aware that he'd done anything to upset his boyfriend so was probably just thinking the worst of him.

"That's the last time I try to surprise anyone." the teenager muttered under his breath as he pushed through the door.

He was surprised by how busy the place was, Thursdays weren't usually this packed. Just what he needed when he wasn't even sure that Jackson was in here! With a sigh he edged into the crowd, trying his best to avoid the dance floor. He could really do without someone stamping on his foot or elbowing him in the stomach. The mood he was in he'd probably snap and do something he'd end up regretting.

Finding a fairly good vantage point he scanned the room for his boyfriend. He wasn't at the pool table, people seemed to be lined up three deep at the bar making it hard to pick anyone out, and there was no sign of him at any of the tables as far as he could see. It was just his luck that when he desperately wanted to find Jackson, the older man had switched his phone off and didn't appear to be in his usual haunt. Aaron wasn't even sure he could find any of the other bars and clubs that the builder had dragged him to in the past few months, so if they weren't here he was pretty much screwed.

He was about to give the whole thing up as a pointless waste of time when he heard a loud, excited squeal coming from a far corner that sounded horribly like Sol. Edging a little further around the room he spotted a group of Jackson's friends seated in a booth that had been hidden from view behind a pillar. His boyfriend wasn't with them though. The mechanic groaned in annoyance… He now had to choose between pushing through the crowded room in the vague hope of running into Jackson, or swallowing his pride and going to ask the condescending twits in the corner where he could find him.

As Aaron stood trying to decide what to do, the song that was playing came to an end and he was surprised when it wasn't replaced immediately by another. Instead there were a few seconds of silence before a voice came over the speakers calling someone called Jenna to the stage. A spotlight flashed on illuminating a middle aged woman holding a microphone climbing up onto a small raised platform off to one side of the room. The teenager grimaced as music started to play and he realised that it was karaoke night.

Well that explained why the place was so busy. For reasons he couldn't even begin to understand, karaoke night always seemed to be popular. Why anyone would willing subject themselves to being stared at by everyone, or to listening to the generally dreadful singing, was beyond him. Still, the sudden rush off the dance floor as people made for the bar, chairs and toilets was enough to make up his mind on what to do. With everyone milling about all over the place he had no chance of finding Jackson without help. Grinding his teeth in frustration he headed over to where Joe, Sol and a few other of his boyfriend's mates were sat.

Aaron could tell by the way that his eyes suddenly widened that Joe was the first to see him. The short man had elbowed Sol in the ribs and nodded in his direction, and soon the entire group was staring at him as he made his way over. Some of them were glaring at him with undisclosed animosity, a couple just looked curious, but Sol was smirking nastily and practically rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Jackson's at the bar." the black man blurted out before Aaron even had a chance to speak. Joe smacked his mate in the arm and gave him a look which the mechanic didn't understand.

"Err... Cheers." the teenager said, surprised at being able to get away without having to go through the humiliation of begging one of them to tell him where his own boyfriend was.

"Wait!" Joe exclaimed as he was turning to leave.

"What?" Aaron asked with a frown.

The other man looked like he was trying hard to say something but finally gave up.

"Nothing. Sorry." he muttered with a sigh.

The mechanic shrugged and hurried away. The sooner he was away from that lot the better as far as he was concerned.

The bar was a lot less busy than a few minutes ago, the staff obviously having been working hard to deal with the rush. Still, there were enough people queuing that he couldn't see Jackson right away. After a minute of trying to peer between bodies and craning his neck to see over heads, Aaron spotted the builder leaning against the far end of the bar, and started to push his way toward him. For a second he thought that his boyfriend was waiting to be served, but as the older man raised a hand to swig from a bottle, he realised that he was just stood talking to the bloke next to him.

Aaron didn't know all of Jackson's mates, but if the blonde guy he was chatting to was one of them, why were they stood at the busy bar drinking when they could've been over in the booth with everyone else? He suddenly had an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach, Jackson's comment earlier about maybe not seeing him tomorrow and Sol's enthusiasm for pointing him in this direction making a horrible kind of sense as he watched the two men laughing together.

Needing to know what exactly was going on, praying that his sudden suspicions were unfounded, the mechanic ploughed forward, forcing his way urgently through the crowd. He was just a few of feet away when the blonde man leaned forward and kissed Jackson. Aaron froze feeling like someone had punched him in the gut. He'd watched people hitting on his boyfriend before now, the older man was after all, incredibly hot and incredibly nice, but he'd never seen someone kissing him. If anyone had asked him how he thought he'd react to such an event, he wouldn't have hesitated to say that he'd kick the person's head in. But now that he was actually faced with it he couldn't even move.

Part of him wanted to scream, another wanted to smash everything he could lay his hands on, and yet another just wanted curl up and cry. He couldn't believe that Jackson would do this to him. Even as that thought passed through his head though, the builder was shoving the guy away and stepping back.

"What you doing? I told you I have a boyfriend!" Aaron heard him bark at the blonde man who was now looking anxious.

"I... But..." was the only response.

"I thought you just wanted to be mates!" Jackson muttered sounding incredibly pissed off.

The teenager suddenly felt anger rushing through him at what had just happened. Clearly the bloke had taken advantage of Jackson's amicable nature. Despite having been told that he wasn't available, the blonde had still kissed him. Kissed his boyfriend! He could feel his body trembling as he tried to control himself, because right now he really did want to kick the guy's head in. But if he did that Jackson would get upset, and he'd already upset him more than enough for one day as it was. It was really difficult though, he could see the edges of his vision going red as he glared at the man.

He was so consumed with keeping a handle on his temper that it came as a shock when someone walked straight into him. Tearing his gaze away from the bloke that had kissed Jackson, he found himself looking into familiar brown eyes which widened in shock.

"Aaron…" the builder gasped in surprise.

Just that one word was enough to bank the fires of his rage, Jackson somehow magically calming him down as usual. The roaring in his ears subsided and he felt capable of stringing together a rational thought beyond what he wanted to do with his fists.

"Don't kick off… Please." the older man begged him quietly, placing his hands on his chest as if to hold him back.

"I ain't gunna... Though I ain't gunna lie and say I don't want to." the mechanic ground out.

Aaron glowered across at the blonde man who was watching the two of them nervously. The guy seemed to recoil at the look he gave him, presumably realising that person giving him evils was the boyfriend he'd so conveniently forgotten about, and quickly turned and hurried off towards the exit. The teenager smirked to himself in satisfaction as his eyes settled once again on Jackson's worried looking face.

It struck him just how close they were now standing. Even in the warm air of the bar he could feel the heat coming off the builder's body, and where the older man's hands still pressed against him, he'd swear that the skin beneath his t-shirt was burning. They hadn't been this close in what felt like years rather than the week or so it had actually been, and it was making it hard to think clearly. All the pent up desire that had been temporarily pushed aside by the events of the day came flooding back as he gazed at his boyfriend. He wanted him so very badly.

Maybe he could feel his heart pounding, or maybe he recognised the flare of lust that Aaron figured must be clearly visible on his face for everyone to see, but whatever it was Jackson's eyes suddenly widen and his tongue darted out to lick his lips. That small action was enough to have the teenager wrapping himself around his lover possessively, his mouth homing in on the older man's as he proceeded to kiss him as if his life depended on it. Somehow it felt even better than he remembered, something that he wouldn't have thought possible… The smell of him, the taste of him, the feel of him… It was all so familiar but at the same time felt new and exciting… It was almost worth a week's worth of sexual frustration… Only almost though!

Jackson broke the kiss, pulling back to give him an amused smile.

"You gunna pee on me leg now?" he laughed.

"Err… Eh?" Aaron asked in confusion. His brain felt fuzzy and he wondered if he'd missed something.

"Marking yer territory!" the builder answered with a wink.

"Oh… Don't think I need to. Ee seems to've got the message." the younger man said smugly.

Jackson looked over his shoulder at the now vacant spot that Garry had occupied and snorted in amusement "Can't say as I blame 'im… Think most people'd scarper at the sight of your ugly mug!"

"Shame Sol and Joe didn't earlier!" the mechanic grinned.

He knew he'd said the wrong thing almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Jackson's expression went sour and he pushed himself out of Aaron's arms.

"What is your problem with my mates?" the builder exclaimed "All they've done is try to give me a good birthday and you go off on one about it! Why couldn't you just have just come and at least tried to have a good time? I wanted you here but you couldn't even do that for me on me birthday! Why've you got to be so selfish?"

Aaron winced to hear his fears confirmed - Jackson thought he was a crappy boyfriend. He'd tried to be nice and thoughtful with his birthday surprise, but when things hadn't gone his way he'd pulled his usual stroppy teenager routine and now he was having to deal with the fallout. He could feel his temper building and tried his best to squash it back down, knowing that snapping at the older man would just make things even worse.

"Jackson I'm sorry about earlier, and I-" he started to apologise.

"You're always sorry! Every time ya do something like this you're sorry about it and muggins 'ere just rolls over and accepts it!" the builder was practically yelling at him now "How about next time you're going to do something you know you'll regret, just for once try not doing it eh? That way I won't have to get pissed off and you won't have to say sorry afterwards!"

The mechanic stared at his feet not knowing what to do. Jackson wasn't saying anything that he hadn't thought of himself on more than one occasion, and he really had been trying his best to think before acting or speaking, but it was hard to change something that had become second nature over the years. He thought he'd been making progress recently... He'd not punched out that guy tonight for instance, but obviously it wasn't enough. And apparently apologising when he messed up was also getting on his boyfriend's nerves. He was well and truly stuck... He didn't appear to be able to do much without upsetting Jackson, and now he couldn't even say sorry for doing something wrong without upsetting Jackson further.

"I... I guess I should just go." he muttered despondently.

-x-x-

Jackson felt horrible as soon as he'd finished his rant. He wasn't even sure where it had come from! Yes, Aaron could be incredibly frustrating sometimes, but he knew the teenager was trying hard to change, to be a better person, and that mostly he was putting in that effort to please him. The last thing the mechanic needed was his supposedly supportive boyfriend shouting at him in the middle of a bar about his inadequacies. Alcohol again... This was the second time now he'd gotten drunk and said something in relation to Aaron he wished he hadn't, and here he was going off on the younger man for not learning from his mistakes!

"Look... I'm sorry okay?" he said to the dejected youth "I've had way too much to drink to be talking about this sort of stuff... If it makes ya feel any better I know I'm really gunna regret what I've just said in the morning. Thank you for coming out to apologise, I do appreciate it... I just wish sometimes..." he trailed off realising that he again hadn't intended on saying that last part.

"You wish what?" Aaron prodded anxiously.

"Sometimes I wish it was more than just words..." Jackson sighed.

"Well maybe I could do something to show you how sorry I am?" the teenager asked hopefully.

The builder couldn't help but smirk as he thought about the ways they'd made up after previous arguments.

"I didn't mean that!" the mechanic blushed, obviously reading his expression all too well "I meant something... I dunno... Just something to show ya how much you mean to me."

The older man smiled at him. He could tell Aaron that what he'd just said showed him that perfectly well, but he didn't think he'd believe him.

"Honestly Aaron, you don't have to do anything-" he started to say.

"I know." the teenager butted in "But I want to. Come on... There must be something? I'll do anything if it'll help."

Jackson really couldn't think of anything but he knew that Aaron wouldn't be happy until he'd given him something at least.

"Erm... Buy me a drink?" he ventured.

The younger man pulled a face "I get ya drinks all the time, it ain't much of a grand gesture is it?"

The builder looked around for inspiration, but a crowded pub wasn't exactly the greatest source of ideas. Not until his gaze alighted on the stage where a couple of students were massacring an Abba song that is.

"Sing for me?" he tried this time.

A look of horror spread across Aaron's face at that "You're not serious?" he gasped.

"Well you did say anything... And I would quite like a birthday song..." Jackson replied, somehow managing to keep a straight face.

The mechanic stared at the people doing karaoke with an agonised expression on his face.

"I... I have to go." he choked before turning and making a dash for the door.

"Aaron! Aaron wait! I was only..." Jackson cried after him "... Kidding." he finished lamely as he watched his boyfriend disappear up the stairs.

His first instinct was to go after him like he always did, and he was halfway to the exit without even realising it when the irritation set in. Aaron had said he'd do anything by way of an apology, and whilst the suggestion that the teenager sing him something had just been a joke, it didn't really seem like it would've been that much to ask if he'd meant it seriously. Yeah Aaron disliked being the centre of attention, and disliked being embarrassed even more, but he'd said himself that he wanted to make a grand gesture, and when had those ever been easy? All in all Jackson was thoroughly sick of this night, absolutely nothing seemed to be going right. Making a decision he swung round and headed back to his mates' table. He'd finish his drink with them then go home and sleep off the last twenty four hours. Tomorrow was soon enough to try to sort out the hideous mess his love life seemed to have become.

-x-x-

Outside Aaron leaned heavily against the wall of the alley next to the bar. He felt a little better in the cool night air, the urge to be sick slowly passing. He was ashamed to have run off again but he'd needed to get outside, away from the crowds, unsure what he might've done if the panic attack he'd felt coming on had hit fully whilst he was surrounded by people. Taking slow, calming breaths he couldn't help but feel embarrassed at the fact that the thought of getting up on that little stage and singing in front of packed bar had made him freak out completely.

He hated being the centre of attention, hated embarrassing himself and hated people laughing at him, all of which would happen if he did what Jackson had asked. But then he had said he would do anything to make his boyfriend believe that he was sorry for spoiling his birthday for him. How did he get himself into these messes?

There was no other option but to do it. If he chickened out then he would pretty much have broken a promise he'd made to Jackson. Even if the word promise hadn't actually been spoken that's what his declaration had been. Backing out would show that he didn't mean what he'd said when the fact was that he had. Every word. He would do anything for Jackson. In the grand scheme of things looking like an idiot was a small price to pay if it meant he could fix things with his boyfriend. Now all he had to do was think of something to sing... Oh, and not faint or throw up.

A couple of minutes thought sorted out the first problem. With a few tweaks to the words he knew the perfect song... He wasn't sure about the other two issues though. He hoped someone would be close enough to the stage to catch him if he passed out, though he felt kind of sorry for that person should his other worry come to pass.

-x-x-

Jackson sat sipping his beer and listening to his friends going on at him about Aaron. He knew that they were only doing it because they cared about him, but it was starting to wear a little thin. Did they really think that making fun of the mechanic's clothes or his hair was going to make him suddenly realise that he'd made a terrible mistake in falling for younger man? Admittedly they had a point about Aaron being moody and rude, but they didn't seem to believe him when he told them that the teenager wasn't always like that and that he was incredibly sweet and kind more often then not... Around him at least!

"...he's okay looking if you like that sort of thing," Craig was saying "But his personality? Honestly Jack, what were you thinking?"

Jackson just shook his head as the rest of the group agreed.

"Didn't you put up with your last boyfriend stealing out of your wallet just because he had good hair?" he asked the other man.

Craig brushed the question aside with a wave of his hand "That's completely different... He had really good hair and I'm tremendously shallow. You... Well you're the stereotypical nice guy. We just hate seeing you stuck with someone that doesn't appreciate you, you deserve so much better!"

The builder was about to tell him that if he thought Aaron didn't appreciate him then he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, when the karaoke MC came on the speakers.

"And next up we have Aaron with a special birthday song for Jackson..."

Jackson thought that he was hearing things until Sol choked on his cocktail. Everyone in the booth looked at each other wide-eyed for a second before leaping to their feet and rushing to the railing overlooking the dance floor. Sure enough, on the stage opposite, Aaron was standing blinking owlishly in the spotlight, clutching a microphone at arms length as though it were a snake that might bite him at any moment. The teenager looked a little green and was visibly shaking as he nervously wet his lips, waiting for the music to start.

"Oh this is going to be so so good..." Sol breathed in delight.

Jackson could only stare in disbelief at what he was seeing. Around him people were drinking, chatting away and playing pool as if nothing was happening, as if the world hadn't been turned on it's head. He wanted to rush over and drag Aaron off the stage, tell him he didn't have to go through with it, but his legs just wouldn't move despite the fact that his boyfriend looked terrified. And then the music began to play and it was too late to save the younger man.

On the stage Aaron managed to wrestle the microphone closer to his face and opened his mouth... Jackson squeezed his eyes shut not wanting to watch.

Everyday is so wonderful
Then suddenly, it's hard to breathe.
Now and then I get insecure
From all the pain. I'm so ashamed.

"That is so not fair!" Sol muttered.

The builder's eyes snapped open again and he felt his jaw drop in amazement. Aaron could sing. And not just sing-along-to-the-radio sing, but proper sing! Aaron of all people!

I am beautiful no matter what they say,
Words can't bring me down.

As the rich tenor voice carried above the noise of the bar, people who'd been talking fell silent and listened. The people at the pool table paused mid-shot and turned to the stage. Jackson couldn't take his eyes off the mechanic who was resolutely staring at his feet, avoiding looking out into the room.

I am beautiful in every single way,
Yes, words can't bring me down, oh no.
Don't let me bring you down today.

"Hah! He's got the words wrong." Sol gloated.

"I think that was deliberate." Joe whispered with a glance at Jackson.

"Shh!" Craig hissed "I'm trying to listen!"

To all your friends you're delirious,
So consumed in all my doom.
Tryin' hard to fill the emptiness, the piece is gone
Left the puzzle undone, ain't that the way it is?

'Cause you are beautiful no matter what they say,
Words can't bring you down, oh no.
You are beautiful in every single way,
Yes, words can't bring you down, oh no.
Don't let me bring you down today.

The teenager had looked briefly in Jackson's direction at that, the builder feeling his stomach flip as their eyes met for a second before Aaron went back to gazing at the floor.

No matter what we do,
No matter what we say,
We're the song that's outta tune
Full of beautiful mistakes.

And everywhere we go
The sun will always shine,
But tomorrow we might awake

On the other side.

The area in front of the stage was now full of people listening to the song. It just wasn't the sort of performance they associated with karaoke, most having come to listen to their friends make good natured fools of themselves. There had been a few decent efforts throughout the evening but this was the best by far.

'Cause we are beautiful no matter what they say,
Yes, words won't bring us down, oh no.
We are beautiful in every single way,
Yes, words can't bring us down, oh no.
Don't let me bring you down today.

Don't let me bring you down today.
Don't let me bring you down today.

As the song came to an end the room erupted with applause and whistles. As Aaron handed the microphone back to the MC and clambered down off the stage, quite a few men hurried forward to pat him on the back and talk to him making Jackson frown.

"You never told us he could sing!" Craig exclaimed accusingly.

The builder could only shrug in stunned consternation. He hadn't had any idea himself, the most musical thing he'd ever heard his boyfriend do was hum along to the radio.

"God he's hot!" Craig carried on, pulling mooneyes at where Aaron was surrounded by people offering to buy him a drink or asking for his phone number.

"You've changed your tune!" Jackson laughed "And don't even think about going there, he's mine!"

"I believe I mentioned that I'm tremendously shallow. And I'd worry about all the other people that are trying to go there as we speak if I were you... He's not looking very happy!"

The man was right. From where they stood Jackson had a clear view of the look on the mechanic's face as random men pawed at him trying to get his attention. Not very happy was an understatement.

"I'll see you guys soon okay? I'd best be going." the builder said as he grabbed his jacket. Not waiting for a reply he hurried down the steps and across the room. It looked like there were nearly twenty men of varying ages all clustered round Aaron who was obviously trying to get to the exit but not succeeding. Jackson heaved a couple of the blokes aside and amid complaints, pushed his way roughly into the middle.

"Jackson!" the younger man exclaimed thankfully as he finally made it to the front of the crowd "Can we leave? Please?"

"Don't you want to hang with your groupies?" the builder laughed receiving a number of nasty glares from those around him.

"They're doing me 'ead in! I'm gunna twat one of 'em soon if they don't piss off!" Aaron growled.

That remark seemed to deal with the problem, everyone suddenly more interested in being somewhere else other than within striking distance.

"So..." Jackson eyed his boyfriend up and down "Turns out you can sing."

The mechanic shrugged looking uncomfortable.

"Any particular reason you freaked out when I suggested it if you knew you were going to be awesome? Which you were by the way. And the song? It was amazing... Thank you."

Aaron blushed at the compliment but just gave another shrug in response to the question.

"You will tell me eventually you know?" the older man chuckled.

"Yeah I know." the teenager answered "Just... Just not tonight okay? Can we just go home?"

Jackson threw his arm around his shoulders and moved them towards the door "Come on then Christina, lets go find a taxi... Unless your limo's parked round the corner?"

The mechanic rolled his eyes at him then looked thoughtful for a second.

"Could we maybe go back to yours?" he asked quietly.

"Urm... If you want yeah..." the builder answered in surprise "You sure you don't want to go back to Emmerdale?"

"Yeah... I'd like to see where you live." the teenager smiled as they stepped out onto the street.

Jackson grinned. Maybe he'd get at least one half of his birthday wish after all.


Let me know what you think!

Hmm... I sense a little smut coming on in the next chapter maybe :O Will see how confident I'm feeling in a bit!

PS Boring A/N - Beautiful by Christina Aguilera isn't mine in any way shape or form... If it was I'd be rich and would've bribed the Emmerdale producers to do the sensible thing long before now *sigh*