"I'm not surprised." Jackson told him. "Anyone would be, haven gone what you've been put through."
Aaron just stood silent. He looked scared as he stared back at Jackson, desperate for reassurance.
"You the bravest person I've ever known." Jackson continued to tell him. "But there's no reason for you to be scared. You've got me."
"But I haven't." Aaron gasped his voice catching as he bit back the tears.
"What?" Jackson answered puzzled as he screwed up his face. "You've always got me. I'm always here for you."
"But you haven't been though have you!" Aaron shouted back towards him. "You left me. . ."
Jackson's heart clenched in his chest as the teen added the last bit almost whispering. He felt bad for leaving him now, putting them on a break, arguing with him. He should have just bit his tongue and been there for Aaron because that's what Aaron needed the most. For him to be there, not for him to be lecturing him about keeping out of Holly's business and focusing on the trial, doing that he'd abandoned Aaron.
"You said you'd be there for me and you left me." Aaron said quietly as he stared past the side of Jackson.
He couldn't even bare to look at him now. "Aaron, I'm sor-."
"Don't apologise! You don't need to." Aaron quickly interrupted him. "I was the one stupid enough to drive you away and I don't blame you."
"Aaron!" Jackson shouted, making the teen jump a little. He couldn't listen to Aaron blame himself anymore. The teen's self hatred was planted deeper than he ever imagined, somehow the mechanic was always cable of twisting the blame back onto himself no matter how far away that was. "You didn't drive me away. We needed a break. Nothing else, nobody's fault, no ones, especially not yours." Jackson told him calmly. "Now you're gonna listen to every word I say and believe it . . . Okay?" Jackson added as he crossed the short distance between them and pulled Aaron towards him into a hug.
He felt Aaron nod his head in a nonverbal answer before continued. "I will always be here for you, no matter what. I care about you a lot Aaron Livesy and nothing you can say or do will ever drive me away." Jackson told him sternly. "You mean a lot more to me then you can ever imagine."
Jackson pulled back to see Aaron's face, he wanted Aaron to see that he wasn't feeding fables. He sincerely meant every word he said and he hoped the mechanic could read that in his eyes.
"You're a muppet." Aaron smirked, finding it all a little overwhelming.
"Yeah, but I'm your muppet." Jackson grinned back at him, earning him a roll of the teen's eyes. "Come on, let's order a pizza and put a DVD on up here. It's been a rough day."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Aaron huffed as Jackson headed for the bedroom door to fetch a few DVDs from downstairs. He was sure Paddy had a good collection somewhere.
"You can tell me about it." Jackson said hopefully as he stopped by the bedroom door. "If you want, that is."
Aaron thought about it for a moment before giving him a small smile in return. He wasn't making any promises, but he might do.
"Great." Jackson grinned before thundering down the stairs.
Only for Aaron to hear Hazel shout at her son downstairs, scolding him for sounding 'like an elephant' as he went.
Jackson ended staying the night. The spent the whole evening and most of the night watching a few DVDs Jackson had picked from Paddy's collection and couple from Aaron's, just because the teen forced him to. The ordered in pizza and spent the whole time lying on Aaron's bed watching the DVDs and just being comfortable in each other's company again and forgetting about the court case that was forever on their minds. He was glad to see Aaron relax a little that night. He couldn't help but notice how wound up and quiet Aaron seemed to be when he saw him that morning. He often found himself that night watching Aaron instead of the movies, looking out for any thing that might tell him if Aaron was wound up or troubled.
Aaron had fallen asleep way before Jackson that night, the events of that day having really taken it's toll on him. Jackson had disappeared downstairs for a while when he knew Aaron was really out for the count. He found his mother sitting at the kitchen table with a knowing look upon her face.
"I'm glad you've patched things up with him." She said as Jackson ditched the pizza boxes in the kitchen bin. "There's something about him . . .I can't quite figure it out yet."
"Oh. . . Is that a good thing?" Jackson questioned.
"Oh, yeah! It's something good." Hazel assured him. "But I just can't work it out. Hold on to him."
"I will." Jackson promised before heading back upstairs again.
He climbed onto the bed next to Aaron, not bothering to even attempt trying to get the duvet over the top of them. He couldn't risk waking Aaron up, the younger man needed his sleep.
And that's were he found himself waking up the next morning. Aaron was still sound asleep next to him, fully dressed. The younger man had been too tired to even bother changing into more comfortable night wear. He couldn't blame him; he must be exhausted with everything. So let him sleep in. They had no where to be. Aaron wasn't back at court for another day. So he wanted to do something to keep the younger man's mind off of it all. What though, he didn't know.
"You left me in bed." He heard Aaron say behind him as he sat on the sofa a few hours later.
"Sorry, I thought I'd let you sleep." Jackson explained as he turned to watch the still sleepy teen walk round the sofa on his crutches and crash into the spare space beside him.
"S'okay." Aaron groaned as he stretched his back.
Jackson smirked. His boyfriend wasn't half gorgeous when he was tired.
"What you smirking at?" Aaron grumbled as he glared back at Jackson with sleepy eyes.
The look just made him look even cuter. "Can't I admire my boyfriend?" Jackson complained crossing his arms to emphasis his point.
"No." Aaron told him, teasing.
"I can. You're my boyfriend so I can admire you as much as I want." Jackson told him.
"What gives you that impression." Aaron huffed.
"What I say goes." Jackson teased. "So therefore, if I want to stare at you I can stare at you and If I want you to make me a cup of tea, you go make me a cup of tea!"
"No bloody way!" Aaron laughed.
"Fine. But I can do this." Jackson said leaning towards the teen and pinning him to the sofa as he kissed him.
"You can do that." Aaron agreed as the older man pulled way so they could catch their breath.
"I'm glad you agree." Jackson smirked before leaned forward to continue.
A/N – Short update I know guys! But I feel bad that I haven't update in a quite a while, I keep meaning to its just the chaotic and tiring life I lead that drags me away from it all. Hope you enjoyed it. Love to hear what you think about it. Thank you for all the feedback, love reading each one!