Just frienemies

It was kind of annoying that less than a week after Nate rejected Aaron so harshly when Aaron confessed his true feelings to him, they went back to acting as though nothing had ever happened. So this is my way of filling in the gaps of what might have happened between episode 7205 and 7207.

Nate laughed as his remote control car zoomed past Tyler's whilst they were racing each other down Ramsay Street.

"That's the second time I've smashed you!" he exclaimed, "You're losing your touch, man"

Tyler wasn't about to admit that he wasn't really concentrating because his head was preoccupied with fears about his dad's temper, so he shrugged, "I'm just letting you win"

"Yeah, right" Nate snorted before making his car nudge Tyler's. Tyler glanced up and noticed Aaron emerging from number 22 after spending the morning rehearsing a routine with Josh.

"Hey Az" Tyler greeted

Aaron smiled at Tyler, "Hey bro" he called out in response, but his face dropped as soon as his eyes met Nate's. The blond man lowered his head before hurrying back to number 24 without saying anything to him, leaving Nate watching after him regretfully.

Tyler noticed the tension between them and turned to Nate with his eyebrows raised, "Woah, I haven't seen Aaron ignore anyone like that since…" he paused uncomfortably, "since dad"

Nate shook his head, "I didn't expect him to do a complete U-turn on me" he muttered

"Yeah, what actually happened between you two?" Tyler asked, "One minute he's following you around, being your man-slave, then the next he's saying that the arrangement's off and that you're not interested"

Nate nodded, "He joked about having feelings for me and I kind of reacted badly" he admitted shamefully

Tyler was confused, "What do you mean 'he joked'?"

"He said something like the reason he was being my slave was because he really liked me, when we both know that it was to make himself feel better about injuring me during Tai Chi" Nate replied determinedly

Tyler groaned, "Mate, you are so dense sometimes!"

Nate raised an eyebrow, "You mean he actually does like me?" he clarified

"Yes, you idiot!" Tyler cried

"Why?" Nate questioned

"Why are you an idiot?" Tyler repeated, "Because you can't see what's right in front of you!"

Nate shook his head, "No, why does he like me?" he asked seriously, "All we do is insult each other, so how could he have feelings for me?"

Tyler shrugged, "Feelings are feelings, you can't control them" he pointed out

Nate considered this, but was unsure whether Tyler was telling him the truth or not. After all, he and Tyler joked around with each other a lot, plus Tyler and Aaron were brothers so Aaron could have told Tyler to confirm his feelings to Nate or Tyler could just be telling Nate that Aaron has feelings for him as another joke.

Tyler sighed, "Look, I'm not gonna tell you what to do because you're my best mate and he's my brother, plus I did try to set you guys up together, so I don't want to seem biased" he began, "But you need to figure out how you feel and what you want before Aaron decides to never speak to you again" he paused, "Though based on how he's acting now, you'd better hurry up"

Nate gazed over at number 24 thoughtfully. He knew that he was attracted to Aaron but he had just assumed that it was purely physical. Now that there was a possibility that Aaron's feelings ran deeper, Nate started to question how he really felt about the older man.

xxx

Nate dried one of the glasses nervously as he waited for Aaron to arrive. He felt slightly guilty about taking Tyler's mobile phone and inviting Aaron to The Waterhole under false pretences, but based on Aaron's recent behaviour, he knew that Aaron wouldn't agree if he knew that Nate wanted to talk to him. Aaron was puzzled when he looked around The Waterhole and couldn't see Tyler anywhere, whilst Nate tried his best to appear calm and collected despite his pounding heart.

Aaron reluctantly approached Nate at the bar, "Hey, have you seen Tyler?" he asked slowly

Nate shook his head and Aaron looked annoyed, "He asked me to meet him here right now" he muttered, "You know what? I'm gonna go and look for him"

As Aaron turned away Nate stepped out from behind the bar, "No, don't bother. Tyler didn't text you, I did"

Aaron's face fell, "Oh" he murmured, "I should go" he added before beginning to walk away.

Nate rushed over to him and grabbed his arm in order to stop him, "Please stay" he begged, "I'll get you a drink on the house. I really need to talk to you"

Aaron held his gaze for a few moments - ignoring how his stomach flipped at the physical contact - before eventually giving in, sitting down in front of the bar and ordering an orange juice.

Nate smiled slightly before preparing his drink, trying to figure out how he was going to word his thoughts, "Look, I'm really sorry for rejecting you..." he hesitated and Aaron's eyes lit up as he assumed that that was the end of the sentence and that Nate was about to admit that he reciprocated Aaron's feelings. Nate was considering ending the sentence there but was still unsure whether Aaron was joking about his feelings and didn't want to make an idiot out of himself, so he added, "...the way I did the other day"

Aaron was disappointed but shook his head quickly, unable to meet his gaze, "It's fine, honestly" he replied flatly

"No, it's not" Nate argued gently, "There was no excuse for me being so rude to you"

"It doesn't matter" Aaron assured him shakily, "We're just joking around with each other, right? Nothing personal"

Nate nodded slowly as he passed him his drink, and Aaron continued, "Besides, you were right when you said that we should go back to not being able to stand each other. So let's just pretend that everything from the Tai Chi disaster onwards never happened"

Nate grimaced, "Do you mind if we go back a bit further?" he asked, "I mean to before you were attacked, I don't really like thinking about that night"

Aaron nodded, "Because of your panic attack?"

Nate was actually referring to the violent attack itself, wanting to forget that anyone would actually hurt Aaron on purpose, but instead just nodded, "Yeah"

Aaron smiled weakly, "Then yeah, consider that night non-existent" he murmured

This was followed by a tense pause before Nate suddenly asked, "Actually, did the police ever find the guy who attacked you?"

Aaron shrugged, "I doubt it" he muttered before taking a gulp of his drink

"But didn't Mark get involved?" Nate pointed out

Aaron nodded, "Yeah, but I didn't want to press charges against the guy"

"Why not?" Nate cried, "He threw alcohol in your face and punched you in the guts, it could have been a hate crime or something!"

"It wasn't!" Aaron argued, "That Milla chick that I tried to set Josh up with was his girlfriend, and I basically called her a skank in front of everyone. So I guess I got what I deserved"

Nate was horrified, "No-one deserves that" he argued, his heart breaking for the other man

Aaron shook his head, "It doesn't matter anymore" he murmured, "Remember, we agreed that none of it ever happened"

Nate was reluctant to let it go but Aaron's earnest expression made him give in, "Well I guess I can't argue with you then, can I?"

Aaron smirked, "Nope, so don't even try"

Nate smiled back at him softly and they held each other's gazes for a few moments. Nate's heart had barely returned to its usual pace before it started thudding rapidly again as his eyes locked with Aaron's.

"So, we're going back to…" Nate paused as he tried to figure out what the state of their relationship was, "Annoying each other then?"

Aaron shrugged, "I think the proper phrase is 'frenemies'" he chuckled

Nate considered this, "Not a fan of the term, but I guess it'll do" he replied

"In that case, 'eyebrows'" Aaron began teasingly, referring to the once-used nickname that he had given him a few weeks earlier

Nate interrupted him by raising one of his spock-like eyebrows comically, "Who are you calling 'eyebrows'?" he joked

Aaron laughed as he hopped off his seat, "I should probably head off. I'll see you around"

Nate nodded, "Yeah, see you" he murmured as Aaron strutted out of The Waterhole. Nate watched after him thoughtfully, still not quite knowing whether Aaron had been lying about having feelings for him and whether they could just be 'frenemies' now that Nate's true feelings had dawned on him.

Thanks for reading! I was suddenly inspired to write this (when I should have been doing Uni work instead) because the time-jump on the show was frustrating, but it was quite tricky to keep to continuity. As I've previously said, I've got a busy time ahead with Uni work but if anyone has any ideas for one-shots then just let me know and I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, remember that reviews are always welcome!