Aaron woke up early the next morning with Flynn's arm across his stomach and one of his legs resting on top of his. The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze blowing through the open window. This was probably his favourite part of the day. It was when he was at his most relaxed and contented, when he had the most special person in the world to him lying sleeping next to him. He would never admit it to anyone but it was also the time that he felt the most grateful, when he felt the need to say a silent thank you to whatever force had brought Flynn back into his life again. He felt Flynn stir next to him and watched as he opened his eyes. He smiled when he saw Aaron looking at him and snuggled up even closer to him. "Morning" he said "you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, you?" Aaron said smiling back at him.

"Mmm, great. Looking forward to the next thunder storm if it means we have another night like last night."

Aaron blushed. Even after all this time together, he still got embarrassed when Flynn paid him a compliment, especially if it was concerning their love life. "So, what d'you want to do today?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Well, I need to get some new stuff, jeans, trainers, a few t-shirts but, as I know how much you love shopping, I was going to go on my own and come back for you later."

"No, I'll come with you, I don't mind" Aaron replied.

"Are you sure cos I'm not rushing around like an idiot just because you'll be with me."

"I know, just try and make sure we're not still traipsing around when the shops are shutting, alright."

"Alright" Flynn agreed before kissing Aaron. If he was expecting anything else that morning, he was about to be disappointed as, when he broke their kiss, Aaron got out of bed and began to throw some clothes on.

"Where d'you think you're going?" Flynn asked.

"I'm going to sort out some breakfast for us while you have a shower, then I can have one later. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back and do something we'll both enjoy a lot more." He walked towards the door and turned around. "And if you're still lying there when I get back, I'll drag you out of bed, right."

Flynn laughed. "Now there's something I never thought I'd hear you say, that you'd drag me out of bed."

"Yeah well, I agree, it would probably be a one off so don't make me do it, ok?"

A couple of hours later, Flynn had parked his car and they were walking round the shops. Aaron had a bit of an ulterior motive for accompanying Flynn. It was Flynn's birthday in a couple of weeks and Aaron had no idea what to get him. He was hoping that while they were out today, Flynn might mention something that he wanted otherwise, he really didn't know what he was going to do. The shopping was going quite well, all things considered. Flynn had got his trainers and some new t-shirts, it was the jeans that was causing the problem. According to Flynn, so far, the jeans he had tried on were either the wrong colour, too light, too baggy, too tight, slightly too long, slightly too short, just didn't feel right or any combination of the above. Aaron was just about managing to keep his mouth shut but he didn't know for how much longer he'd be able to go without saying something. He never knew buying jeans could be so difficult, mind you this was Flynn he was talking about and he did like everything to be just so. They were heading towards yet another shop that sold jeans when they heard a girl's voice calling Flynn's name. Flynn turned round, smiled and hugged the girl who had thrown her arms around him. She was about the same age as Flynn but she wasn't one of his friends that Aaron had met.

"God, I haven't seen you for ages, how are you doing?" Flynn said.

"I'm fine, you?"

"Yeah, I'm good, so where have you been hiding then?"

"Oh, you know, here and there. Besides, from what I've been hearing, I'm not the only one who hasn't been about much. I heard you were off the market again. So, are you going to introduce us?" she said looking towards Aaron.

"Course, Abi, this is Aaron. Aaron, Abi, she's an old friend."

Aaron smiled at her. "Alright" he said. She smiled warmly at him. "Nice to meet you." She looked back at Flynn. "He's cute, much better than the last one." Flynn smiled, not quite sure what to say to that as Aaron just stood there looking surprised.

"Anyway, I won't keep you both, I'm sure you've got better things to do than stand here talking to me. Take care, yeah?" she said as she walked off. Flynn looked at Aaron. "Sorry about that, she always says things without thinking."

"It's fine, I can live with being called cute. Fancy a coffee before we carry on?"

"Yeah great." They walked down the road to the coffee shop, bought their drinks and sat down on a sofa at the far end of the shop. Aaron was curious about Abi. He thought he'd met most of Flynn's friends but he hadn't even heard her name mentioned. Before he even realised what he was doing, the question was out of his mouth.

"So, where d'you know Abi from then?"

"Oh, I've known her four, five years now. She's not from college, that's why you've never met her before, we used to hang around together in a group. We don't really see that much of each other anymore, just occasionally we'll bump into each other like we did today. She er helped me to realise that girls weren't my thing if you know what I mean. You know, tried it once and didn't like it." He smiled sheepishly at Aaron, hoping that Aaron would understand what he was trying to say. Aaron looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I did the same thing."

"Did you?"

"Yeah, as you said, tried it once, didn't really like it but then I wasn't quite so quick to accept things as you obviously were so I tried it again just to be sure, still didn't like it so that was that." Flynn nodded. "Abi was really good about it, helped me a fair bit. How about the girl you were with. Do you still see her?" he said drinking some of his coffee.

Aaron coughed. "It's er, well, erm, it's not her, it's them. It was two different girls." He put his eyes down, unable to look at Flynn. Flynn raised his eyebrows. "You little devil you. You really did want to be sure didn't you?" Seeing how uncomfortable Aaron looked, he said in a quiet voice "Look, you don't have to say anything else about it if you don't want to. It's really none of my business. We can talk about something else, anything else, whatever you want."

"No, I don't mind, honestly. It's not like it's a secret in the village or anything like that. It was Victoria and Holly so, in answer to your question, yeah, I do still see them."

"Holly, as in Adam's sister Holly. Bet that went down well."

Aaron took a mouthful of coffee before carrying on. "Yeah, like a lead balloon. Adam had an idea that Holly wasn't really my type and he didn't want his sister messed about."

"Understandable."

Aaron nodded and waited, wondering whether Flynn would ask how Adam knew, thinking about whether he could tell him about trying to kiss him after their near miss in the car but he didn't need to worry. Flynn had obviously heard enough. He looked at him and smiled. "Still, it's all in the past now isn't it? It doesn't matter what happened back then, all that matters is how you feel now."

"I know and I've never felt happier and I mean that."

"Course you've never felt happier, you've got me, I mean who wouldn't be happy, what more could you possibly want?"

"A chocolate chip muffin to go with this coffee would be good."

"You and your stomach, is it ever full?" Flynn asked. Aaron shook his head. "I'll be back in a minute then" he said using Aaron's knee to lean on as he stood up, knowing it was probably the only physical contact he could get away with at that moment. He was surprised Aaron had told him what he had, that was a conversation he hadn't been expecting to have. It just showed how far they'd come for Aaron to volunteer something so personal. He felt like he could tell Aaron anything and it was nice to know Aaron trusted him enough to do the same. Once they'd finished their drinks, they went back out to the shops and the search for that elusive pair of jeans. They finally found a pair that Flynn was happy with and they went back to the car. The only disappointment was that Aaron still had no idea what to get Flynn for his birthday, Flynn hadn't said a word about anything he wanted. As Aaron was putting his seat belt on, he felt Flynn looking at him.

"What is it now?" he said.

"I was just thinking, what you told me in the coffee shop. I know it wasn't easy for you."

"Yeah, well it couldn't have been any easier for you to tell me what you did. Besides, I don't want us having secrets."

"No, me either." Flynn leant over to give Aaron a quick kiss before they drove off.

The following Wednesday, Cain sent Aaron into town to collect some spare parts so, making the most of the opportunity, Aaron thought he'd have another look for a present for Flynn. He'd been in and out of a few shops and was already starting to get disheartened. Nothing he saw appealed to him and not having a definite idea of what he wanted wasn't helping either. He stopped outside a jewellers shop and looked in the window. "Aye, Aye, what are you looking for?" a familiar voice said as Adam slapped Aaron on his back.

"Something for Flynn's birthday. It's in a couple of weeks and I haven't got the foggiest idea what to get him."

"So how old will he be?"

"Twenty, why, what's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing, just being nosy." Adam looked at what was displayed in the shop window. "Why not get him a watch?"

"Cos he's got one" Aaron said. Adam looked at his friend. "You are allowed to have more than one you know. If you get him one like that" he said pointing out a watch to Aaron "you could get it engraved, make it a bit more personal like."

"That's not a bad idea actually."

"Well don't sound so surprised, I have my moments you know. Blimey, have you seen the prices of those?" he said pointing at a tray of diamond engagement rings. Aaron looked and whistled. "Yeah, it's a good job Flynn's not a diamond ring type of bloke." Adam laughed. "Well, if that's what they cost now, I dread to think what they'll cost when I'm ready to buy one."

"You won't ever be ready to buy one" Aaron said "you'd have to find someone daft enough to marry you first."

"And I will, when I'm ready. Still, at least you know it's something you won't ever have to fork out for."

"Yay, lucky me."

"So, what do you lot do then, you know, when you get engaged I mean." Aaron turned to look at him, a look of astonishment on his face.

"What do us lot do? I don't know, I haven't got to the chapter on engagement in my how to be gay handbook yet, idiot" he said elbowing Adam in the ribs. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Sorry mate, no offense, I was just thinking out loud. I mean, when you get engaged to a girl, you buy her one of those don't you but when it's two blokes…." he trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"Like I said, I don't know, maybe they don't buy each other anything."

"They must do. I mean, if I asked a girl to marry me, I'd want her to have the biggest ring going, you know, let everyone see she was taken, warn everyone to keep their hands off." Aaron laughed. "So according to what you've just said, it's nothing to do with love, it's just about marking your territory. That's what dogs do, isn't it? And you wonder why you're single."

"Hey, I'm single cos I want to be, no other reason."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Now, if you ever want any advice…"

"About relationships? From you? You're joking aren't you?"

"Hey, I'm not the one whose single am I? I must be doing something right."

"Nah, Flynn's just got lower standards than me. Anyway, now I've sorted out your problem about what to get him for his birthday, I'm going to head off. See you back in the village alright?"

"Yeah, cheers mate, see you later." As Adam disappeared up the road, Aaron had another look at the watch that Adam had pointed out. He smiled to himself and went into the jewellers before heading back to work, spare parts collected and feeling a lot happier.

That feeling of happiness soon became replaced by a feeling of anxiety as Flynn's birthday got closer and closer and his watch still wasn't ready. He'd asked for it to be engraved and the assistant had promised him that it would be ready in plenty of time but, here he was, two days before his birthday and still no watch. He was just thinking about phoning the shop again when his mobile rang. He answered it and was relieved to hear the voice of the sales assistant from the jewellers telling him he could collect the watch any time he wanted. He asked Cain if he could take his lunch break so he could go and collect it. Cain agreed providing he ran a few errands for him while he was out which Aaron was more than happy to do.

On the day of his birthday, Flynn arrived at Aaron's place around lunchtime. It was an unseasonably warm day for June, Aaron was wearing shorts and a t shirt, Flynn shorts and a vest. Aaron looked at Flynn's tanned skin, his muscular arms shown off to perfection and grinned broadly. Flynn's eyes travelled up and down Aaron's body as he smiled back. Aaron closed the door and they moved at the same time to kiss each other.

"Blimey, it's hot out there" Flynn said. He sat down at the table in the kitchen while Aaron went to the fridge to get him something cold to drink.

"Here you go, happy birthday" Aaron said, handing Flynn his present before walking back over to lean against one of the cupboards to watch him open it.

"Cheers, mate" he said as he took it, twisting it round in his hands, holding it up to his ear and shaking it gently. "How old are you?" Aaron said "You won't get any clues by doing that." Flynn smiled and opened his present, gasping when he saw the watch. He took it out of its box and examined it closely. "I er had it engraved on the back" Aaron said. Flynn turned the watch over and read the inscription. It said Happy 20th birthday, all my love forever, Aaron. Flynn looked up at Aaron, a look of pure adoration on his face. "This is fantastic, thank you. I don't know what to say" he said as he took off the watch he was wearing and put on his new one.

"You like it then" Aaron said. Flynn got up and walked over to where Aaron was standing. "I love it and I love you." He kissed Aaron again, it was supposed to be a kiss to say thank you but, whether it was the heat or the emotion of the moment, he didn't know but it soon developed into a completely different kiss, something much more passionate that neither wanted to stop. "Where's Paddy?" Flynn murmured as he placed lots of little soft kisses down Aaron's neck .

"Out, all day" Aaron replied. They grinned at each other and headed towards the stairs. Just before they got there, Aaron's mobile rang. "Leave it" Flynn said kissing him again. Aaron tried to ignore it but it kept ringing and ringing. He pulled away and smiled apologetically at Flynn before taking it out of his pocket. There was no name but the number looked vaguely familiar so he answered it. He walked a few paces away from Flynn and listened intently . Flynn walked over and stood in front of Aaron, running his finger down Aaron's chest before hooking it inside the waistband of Aaron's shorts. Aaron put his own hand on top of Flynn's to stop it moving any further and mouthed stop it as he tried to concentrate on what was being said to him. Flynn just grinned at him but he didn't take his hand away and Aaron didn't move it. "Can you just hang on one second, please" he heard Aaron say. Aaron took the phone away from his ear and smiled at Flynn. "It's the bloke I rented the cottage from. Someone's had to cancel and he wants to know if we'd be interested in renting it for a week."

"When?"Flynn asked "Will you be able to get the time off work?"

"The week after next, I'm owed some time off so what do you think?"

Flynn's smile lit up his face."Like you need to ask, yes, tell him yes." Aaron returned the smile before resuming his conversation. "Sorry about that, yeah, we'll take it. Is it alright if I give you a call back later to sort everything out though only I'm a bit busy at the moment." He raised his eyebrows at Flynn who grinned back at him. Aaron ended the conversation and threw his mobile onto the side. "Now, aren't you glad that I answered it?" Flynn nodded. "Yeah, this birthday just keeps getting better and better."