AARON & JACKSON

-1912: The Aftermath-

"Sometimes I'm Gunna Have To Lose"

Three very exhausted adults sat together at the kitchen table with a very awake and giddy baby. They all ate breakfast together and in between bites Jackson gave Jak a spoonful of his baby food. "Chas I'm sorry" Jackson muttered.

Chas looked over at him and smiled slightly. "You did what you had to do, I support your decision Jackson, Aaron's gone now and it will be hard, for all of us" she said as she looked around at Jackson, Jak and Adam. "But we can get through this together"

Adam nodded. "It hurts so bad to say this but, I don't want him anywhere near us, no contact, so if we can decide together that, that is the right thing to do then, it would make this horrible day just that much more bearable" he told them.

Chas swallowed hard and looked at Jackson, they agreed. "Fair enough" Jackson told him.

"Yeah that's fine" Chas answered with a smile

Adam nodded and got up to put his bowl in the sink. "Good" he told them and walked out of the kitchen.

…

Aaron frowned as he started to open his eyes, drops of rain being the cause of him waking. He jumped up into a sitting position on the park bench. He sighed, he had nobody, his life was a complete mess and he couldn't fix it. He was going to miss them all so much. He looked at his watch it was still early morning but he knew Hazel would be up; he needed to speak to her.

Arriving at Hazel's soaking wet from the rain he knocked on the door and she opened it seconds later. She frowned, wondering why he was there. "Aaron?"

"C-Can I come in?"

"Of course" she said as she stepped back to let him in. "W-what's happened, what's with your bag?"

"Jackson has thrown me out and for good reason"

"What why?" she asked him.

"I-I don't want you to hate me too Hazel"

"Aaron whatever it is…"

"But you're going to find out anyway…" he told her and took a deep breath. "T-that man who raped Jackson…I-I found a gun" he explained with his head down, avoiding eye contact. At hearing those words she placed a hand over her mouth. "It was an old thing in one of the drawers in the cabin…as soon as I saw it I knew what I had to do, he hurt Jackson Hazel, I was so angry s-so I went back into the woods and I killed him"

Aaron then looked up at her. "I know you hate me now too and I don't blame you, he threw me out in the middle of the night, slept in the park again…I-I'm going away Hazel and can I ask you to do something for me?" he asked as he felt his emotions stirring and he didn't feel like he could stop them and he suddenly began to sob as he waited for her answer.

Hazel nodded, stunned completely by his admission.

"P-please look after him and Jak, all of them my mum and Adam, I-I know I deserve this I know that now but the man I love was hurt and I lashed out…" he wiped his eyes as he still cried. "I will always love him Hazel, I love them all, so, so much, please do that for me"

Hazel found herself nodding, how could she say no. "W-Where are you going Aaron?"

Aaron shrugged as he stepped back toward the front door. "I'm not quite sure yet" he said with a gentle smile then pulled open the door.

"N-No…Aaron wait…" she exclaimed and rushed to the door to stop him. Aaron turned and faced her. "I-I don't hate you" she said whilst shaking her head. "I don't and I know I should but I can't Aaron…you are an amazing person deep down…"

"No, I'm not Hazel"

"Jackson fell in love with you"

Aaron started to cry again. "Don't Hazel…" he sobbed. "Don't…I want to go back to those days when we were on Titanic so badly, it was love at first sight and he's such an amazing man…b-but I've done too much now, I'm dangerous and he can't love me anymore" Aaron cried out.

Hazel took him into her arms and held him, he was an emotional wreck and she felt his entire body shuddering as he cried. A few seconds later Aaron pulled away and wiped his eyes. "I-I don't know if I'll ever see you again, I know we didn't get on at first but I admire you so much, you're such a strong and lovable woman and I am honoured to have known you" he told her with a gentle smile, his eyes shone in the light from his tears. "Take care of yourself Hazel…"

"Oh Aaron" she said sadly as tears ran down her face.

"Look after them" he told her with a nod before he left and closed the door behind him.

…

Jackson drove to work, the same route every day, passing the same buildings, nothing ever really stuck out to him, until that drive. He frowned as he watched him. His eyes widened and a panic rushed through his entire body, he pulled over as quickly as he could and got out of his car and ran to him. "Aaron! NO!" he yelled.

Aaron was in a daze walking to the building, he frowned and wondered why he'd hear Jackson's voice, he only realised it was real when he felt a hand on his arm pulling him to a stop and Jackson ran around him and faced him. Aaron frowned.

"What are you doing?" Jackson asked.

"Going in there, why are you even bothered Jackson? I've hurt you too much"

"Yeah you have but like I said I will always love you and n-now I'm scared for you…what you're about to do, you don't have too"

Aaron nodded. "Yes I do Jackson…" he felt himself tear up again and so was Jackson. "You are the most amazing person that I know, you loved me" he smiled. "And I will never forget how special that felt, you were mine and I will always love you, I'll remember you in here" he tapped his chest. "You'll always be there; you'll never leave me no matter what happens"

"No Aaron please you've got your whole life ahead of you" Jackson told him as tear after tear ran down his face. "I-I know I was mad but I did what I had too…but this? I don't want this for you"

"My life is over Jackson…it was over the night I killed Carl…"

"Please don't do this" Jackson begged him as he sobbed.

"I'm done Jackson, I've got nobody now and that's down to me, I did it, me" he said as he cupped Jackson's cheek with his hand, he was past the point of caring whether people saw. "None of this was your fault so don't blame yourself alright?" he asked with a smile.

Jackson couldn't take it, this was all too much and he held Aaron's hand that was on his face as the tears continued to fall.

Aaron's body shook as more tears came; he pulled his hand back slowly. "I'll never forget" he told him with a smile and all Jackson could do was stare into his amazing ocean blue eyes. Aaron then walked past him and Jackson helplessly turned to watch, unable to do anything to stop him.

As he neared the building Aaron turned to face him with his lovely smile, it broke Jackson's heart even more, because despite what he had done he could not stop loving him, and he smiled back at him. Aaron smiled wider. "This is the way my life was meant to go…maybe prison can fix me…" he blew out a shaky breath. "Goodbye Jackson" he told him with a nod. "I'll miss you so much"

Jackson broke down but felt numb, frozen to the spot, he couldn't do anything but watch him walk away, walk into that building. It hurt him so much knowing that Aaron's life was now over. Because in there what his confession would lead too, it would make it over and he couldn't bare Aaron being in there. He didn't quite realise how important he was in his life until he was gone.

The End…