'Where is he?'
It had only been half an hour since he had left Jackson in room 176 but to Aaron it felt like a lifetime and now every possible worst case scenario was running through his mind; Jackson had obviously had time to think about it and realised that he could do so much better than spending the rest of his life with a temperamental mechanic who had an uncanny ability to mess things up. Just then he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
'He'll be here, stop worrying.' Said the man who he considered a father and who he'd had no hesitation in asking to be his best man once he'd decided what he was going to do.
'I'm not worried!' His confrontational tone clearly indicating otherwise.
'And put your phone away, you shouldn't even have it on you.'
Ignoring Paddy he opened the '1 New Message' to find confirmation if ever it was needed that he really had made the right decision; he had found his soul mate.
'Almost ready, don't worry, just makin myself look beautiful for u ;) Love u, J x'
'I'm not worried!' Aaron repeated, meaning it this time.
Five minutes later and Jackson was walking through the lobby with his mum when they reached a set of double doors; a smile spread across his face as he saw a noticeboard outside what seemed to be a function room simply stating 'Hotton Park Hotel welcomes guests to the wedding of Aaron Livesy and Jackson Walsh.'
He peered through the doors and saw a crowd of familiar faces, in truth there were more than he had been expecting. On one side sat 5 of his closest mates, his Aunt Polly, Bob and his Dad, along with his wife and their son. On the other sat pretty much the entire Dingle clan; Zak, Lisa, Belle, Cain, Charity, Debbie, Marlon and Chas, along with Rhona, Adam, Scarlett, Victoria and Ryan. In front of them all stood Aaron, Paddy alongside him, his tie and jacket now in place. He was visibly nervous, shuffling from foot to foot, but more handsome than Jackson had ever seen him before, a sight which made him catch his breath.
'I guess this is it then!' He could feel the butterflies in his stomach now. There was no doubt that this was what he wanted but the problem with this surprise wedding was that it hadn't left him much time to think about what he was going to say on the biggest day of his life.
'You ready love?' Hazel adjusted his tie one last time.
At that moment Aaron turned to face the doors and a huge smile spread across his face as brown eyes met blue.
'Yeah...yeah I am.'
This was it, Jackson was about to walk into the room and Aaron felt so many emotions at once that it was all he could do to hold back tears. Aaron had never thought of Jackson as being beautiful before; handsome yes and hot definitely but as their eyes had met a few moments before beautiful was the only word that seemed adequate for what he saw.
Paddy had noticed Jackson too and with a small gesture of his hands the two men's assembled loved ones rose to their feet and turned their heads. At the same time a waiter pressed play and the opening notes of 'Just Say Yes' filled the room.
Aaron took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on the man walking towards him. As they reached the front of the room Hazel gave her son a kiss on the cheek, reached out and squeezed Aaron's hand before placing Jackson's in his. She took her seat on the front row as the lovers turned to face each other, identical smiles mirrored in their faces.
The music faded away and the small crowd returned to their seats.
'Thank-you all for joining us here today to celebrate the union of Aaron Livesy and Jackson Walsh. Before we exchange the rings I understand that Aaron has prepared a few words and, well from what I've been told, Jackson may have to rely a little more on spontaneity.' The female officiator's jovial greeting drew a ripple of laughter from those seated.
His hand remaining intertwined with Jacksons' Aaron turned to face their friends and family.
'You all know that I'm not very good at talking about my feelings and I've tried hard over the years to hide my soppy side, but today I'm making an exception.'
Turning back so he was facing Jackson he continued. 'I've heard blokes on TV and in films talk about their wedding day being the day their life begins but that's not the case for me. My life began about four and a half years ago, the first time I worked up the courage to go into a gay club, when I was ordering a drink at the bar and this curly haired guy in a red checked shirt cut in and asked for change for the pool table. He was the first man I ever dated, the first man I ever kissed and the first man I ever fell in love with and because of that over the years people have questioned whether we would last. In response to those people, well in all honesty I've just ignored them, but what I should have said is yes cos I got lucky. I met the love of my life the first time round!'