'What?'

'Remember the other week when we watched that movie with Paddy? You know the really soppy one with the wedding at the end? Well I heard you and him talking afterwards when he asked you if you'd ever thought about getting married...'

'But' Jackson was still reeling from the shock 'but you weren't in the room and...and I said no'

'I know you did but even without seeing your face I could tell you didn't mean it'

'Ok' Jackson said, composing himself now 'maybe in an ideal world I'd thought about it but...'

'But what?' Aaron was starting to worry, had he just screwed up the best thing that had ever happened to him. 'You just don't want to marry me?'

'No, oh god no, Aaron you know that's not it. It's just...well...I guess I just never really thought you'd go for it.'

'I know. To be honest when you first mentioned it I couldn't see it either but then I lay awake that night with you beside me and I thought...well, why not?' He paused at this point, Jackson realising after a few seconds of silence that this wasn't rhetorical; he was waiting for an answer.

'I don't know, I suppose it's just not you.' An explanation that had seemed reasonable enough up until it came out of his mouth, but which at this precise moment was completely inadequate. 'I mean...'

'I know what you mean believe me, I do, and up until that night I'd have said exactly the same thing but then it just clicked.' Noticing the puzzled look on his boyfriend's face he continued 'Look you know I'm no good at this sort of thing...'

'Well that's true...' a comment which earned Jackson a poke in the ribs but at the same time elicited a small smile across Aaron's face. Jackson knew him.

'When I first came out, the hardest thing for me was thinking that I wasn't gonna be normal. It was like everyone else's lives would go on the way they should have done but mine...well I'd go on living but I wouldn't be me. I'd just be this person that everyone stared at and gossiped about behind me back.' A pause, followed by a sharp intake of breath as he struggled to maintain his composure. 'But then I met you; we started seeing each other and everything was...normal.'

Seeing Jackson's raised eyebrows he quickly continued 'I'm not saying it was boring or anything like that, it was...amazing actually but what I'm saying is that my life went on, I went on as me. We went out and nobody was bothered, nobody said anything. Rather than feeling like this outcast it was the total opposite, I finally felt like I had a place, like I fit...with you.'

He felt the tears start rolling down him face and when he looked up he saw the emotion he felt mirrored in Jackson's eyes and the same tears gently falling from the pools of brown. He had been pacing, trying to find the right words but now he stood directly in front of the man who had saved him, took his hands and looked him directly in the face.

'You changed my life and I'm so glad you did. I told you once that I didn't know how to love anyone and I wasn't sure if I ever would but now I look at your face and it's all I can see. Love, I mean, not your face.' His usual awkwardness with words now creeping back as a chuckle escaped Jackson's lips. 'The point is that I love you and that saying that feels normal and, well, what do normal couples that have been together as long as we have do? They get married!'

At this point he was silenced by Jackson's lips on his. As they pulled apart he asked the question that would make or break his future. 'So...is that a yes?'

'Before I answer just tell me one thing. Tell me that you're not just doing this because it's the logical next step.'

'When have you ever known me to be logical? I'm doing this because I want to show you, and everyone else for that matter, what you mean to me.'

'Well in that case...Yes of course I'll marry you, you idiot!'

For once Aaron had no smart arse response to Jackson's name calling. Instead the biggest smile Jackson had ever seen spread across his face and he pulled him in to a kiss which felt like it would never end.

Finally coming up for air Jackson couldn't help but tease 'So this, bringing me here under false pretences and springing a wedding on me, was it just so that you avoid the traditional no sleeping together the night before thing?'

'Well there was that and plus have you ever looked at the price of engagement rings' joining in the banter which was so crucial to what made them what they were Aaron gestured towards the ring box lying on the bed. 'They cost enough without another one on top and you being you I would have had to fork out on the fanciest one in the shop to get you to say yes.'

'Well you know what they say, the best deserve the best!'

'Well I hope what's about to happen downstairs lives up to your high standards then. Speaking of which...' the serious tone had now returned to Aaron's voice. 'There's, well there's not that many people here but I want you to know that it's not that I'm ashamed or anything like that, there will be a party afterwards and everything, it's just that when we do this part I want to be able to say everything I need to say...and well...'

'Look you don't have to explain, I know public speaking isn't exactly your forte and I really don't mind as long as the people who really matter are here...'

'They are!'

'Well then it'll be perfect.'

'Thankyou' He stared into the face of his groom, not wanting to move away but at the same time anxious to get started with what he now knew would be the best day of his life. Reluctantly he turned around and grabbed his tie, jacket and the all important red box off the bed, snapping it shut as he did so.

'Right well I'm not marrying you looking like that so you get showered and changed' he placed a quick kiss on Jackson's lips then opened the door 'and I'll see you down there!'

As Jackson stood there, still trying to come to terms with what had just happened, he heard a knock on the door. Smiling he moved towards it and pulled it towards him. 'What have you forgotten? He started before realising that the beaming face in front of him wasn't the one he had expected to see. 'Mum?'

'Well you didn't think I was gonna let my little boy get ready for his wedding on his own did you?'