Once they had got back to the Woolpack Aaron put Robert's arm over his shoulder and helped him out of the car and they started to walk back to the Woolpack. Aaron then turned to Chas "Mum I'm taking Robert in through the back way, the last thing he needs is to have people staring at him".
"Ok sweetheart, then both of you can have a pint on the house. Robert looks like he needs one" Chas looked at Robert with a kind smile on her face..
"Thanks Chas, I owe you one" Robert winced.
"Well you're Aaron's boyfriend so that makes you family" Chas smiled and then walked into the Woolpack.
"Come on, lets get you cleaned up" Aaron said as he helped Robert walk to the back entrance.
"So does that mean I have your mums approval then?" Robert smiled at Aaron.
"Yeah it does. Just don't give her any reason to hate you again" Aaron laughed.
"Understood. I don't fancy being beaten up again" Robert chuckled.
Aaron and Robert walked through the back door and into the backroom and Aaron laid Robert down onto the sofa so that lying down to take pressure off of all of the injurys that he had sustained over the past eighteen hours that Robert had spent in agony because of Gordon Livsey and then Aaron walked into the kitchen to grab the first aid kit.
"What the hell happened to your rat face?" Liv asked when she walked around the sofa and saw that Robert had a black eye, scratches on his cheek, the cut on his lip and his bloody nose.
"Charmer". Robert looked up at Liv.
"Was the wrestling fun?" Liv grinned.
"Give him a break Liv" Aaron said as he walked out of the kitchen holding the firstaid kit "He's had a rough eighteen hours." Aaron knelt down in front of Robert and he lifted Robert's shirt over his head and started to clean the cuts that riddled Robert's chest and torso.
"Ah!" Robert winced as Aaron cleaned the cuts that he had got from Gordon.
Aaron quickly looked up at Robert and saw the look of pain in his eyes "Sorry babe, I've only ever cleaned my cuts" Aaron looked at Robert with sorry eyes.
"It's fine. They just hurt a lot, that's all" Robert sheepishly smiled.
"You look like you have been in a war zone." Liv laughed.
"You could say that." Robert said sarcastically with a pained look on his face.
"Gordon had Robert tied up all night and held a gun to his head." Aaron said whilst he concentrated on cleaning Robert's wounds.
"What happened?" Liv's smile disappeared.
"Your big brother here saved my life" Robert smiled at Aaron.
"Well your my boyfriend and I protect the people I love" Aaron smiled but then he noticed that Robert was holding his wrist, he was obviously trying to hide something. "Robert let me see your wrist".
Robert hesitated but he moved his hand away from his wrist and showed it to Aaron "He... he had a knife" Robert pulled his wrist to his chest but Aaron held Robert's hand and he gently turned Robert's arm around "This wíll sting a little. Squeeze my hand if you need to" Aaron started to clean the large cut on Robert's wrist. Robert bit his lip and squeezed Aaron's hand when he felt a stinging sensation in his wrist "Almost done Robert" Aaron said in a soft voice.
"What happened to dad?" Liv asked.
"He fell through the floorboards and broke his neck" Aaron said as he bandaged up Robert's wrist.
"Did you...?" Liv asked as she watched Aaron clean and bandage up the cuts on Robert's body.
"No, I didn't push Gordon. Wyllie's farm was already a death trap. I'm surprised that the roof didn't fall down and crush us all." Aaron kissed Robert hand "All better now".
"Thanks Aaron, I could kiss you" Robert smiled.
"Come'ere then." Aaron sat on the sofa beside Robert and kissed him softly on the lips.
"Get a room, before I throw up" Liv walked up the stairs to her room.
"We've got one" Aaron smirked.
"You know, I still feel dirty. Perhaps you can help me with that too?" Robert looked Aaron up and down with a smirk on his face.
"Perhaps I could, but I recon that you deserve a pint because of what you went through" Aaron smiled.
"Ok, but..." Robert placed his hand behind Aaron's head "After I want you all to myself. You alone can make me better." He kissed Aaron on the lips.
"Alright, I'll be back in a minute" Aaron stood up and walked to the bar.
Robert was left in the backroom with two things on his mind both of them were about Aaron and the about a secret that everyone in the village knew about execpt Aaron. Robert tried to sit up even though he could still feel pain coming of all of the cuts and bruises but he was very happy that he was able to see his Aaron again. Robert saw his phone on the table so he picked it up and sent a text some people that he knew.
Chas looked up from her phone and saw Aaron "How's he doing?" Chas asked her son as she poured his and Robert's drinks.
"He's ok. But I'm worried about him" Aaron looked at his mum "He's covered in cuts and bruises. He was tortured mum" Aaron covered his eyes with his hand "He was all alone in that place with that man... the look in his eyes when he saw me. I could tell that he was in a lot of pain and it broke my heart to see him like that, he didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve to be put through so much pain for hours on end." Aaron took his hand away from his face but Chas saw the tears running down his face.
"I know sweetheart, I can tell that you love him and that he loves you. Now go back there and make all of his pain go away. Just keep it down because Liv is in the room across the corridor from your's" Chas smiled at her son and handed him the drinks.
Aaron wiped away his tears "Will do, thanks mum" Aaron took the drinks and made his way back to the backroom to see Robert.
"I missed you" Robert smiled at Aaron.
"I've only been gone for couple of minutes. Here, get this down ya" Aaron handed Robert his drink.
"Thanks babe" Robert took the glass and raised it to his lips and he took a big swig of his drink.
"What do you want to eat?" Aaron asked.
Robert lowered the glass of beer "Have you got any tomato soup?" Robert put the glass on the coffee table.
"Yeah, do you want some bread and butter to go with it?" Aaron asked.
"Yes please. But you need to eat as well." Robert said.
"Ok coming right up" Aaron bent down at kissed Robert on the forehead, he then straightened up and walked into the kitchen to make Robert something to eat. After a few minutes Aaron helped Robert up and they walked towards the dinning table where Aaron gently lowered Robert into a seat, he then placed a bowl of soup and a side plate of bread and butter in front of Robert. Aaron then sat down opposite Robert with a bacon sandwich in front of him, but Aaron just watched Robert eat. He watched his boyfriend eat like he had never seen food before.
Robert looked across the table at Aaron "Are you not going to eat anything?" he said before taking a bite out of the soup covered bread.
"I'm not really that hungry" Aaron looked to the side and began to twiddle his thumbs. He always did that when he was thinking about something.
"Babe, what's wrong?" Robert put his spoon down so that he could listen to Aaron.
"Nothing." Aaron looked at Robert with an look on his face that unintentionally gave away the fact that something was bothering him.
"Aaron, I know you better than that. What's on your mind? Please tell me." Robert stretched his arm across the table and he held Aaron's hand.
"You didn't deserve to be put through all of that" Aaron stroked Robert's hand with his thumb.
"Don't beat yourself up. I'm fine now, and that's all thanks to you." Robert said as he tried to reassure Aaron.
"It's thanks to me that you were tortured by Gordon in the first place. How can't beat myself up about that?" A single tear rolled down Aaron's cheek when he thought about what Robert had gone through "I dragged you into all of that, and it put you in danger, I put you in danger".
"Aaron listen to me, it was not your fault. You have nothing to feel bad about because you came for me and I am here because of you and your bravery, you saved me." Robert gave Aaron a warm smile.
"I will always blame myself when the man I love is put in a situation like that" Aaron said in a defeated tone.
"Does that mean that you love me then?" Robert grinned.
"Of course I love you. I don't save the life of just anyone." Aaron smiled.
"There's my Aaron. There's the kind hearted bad boy that I'm in love with" Robert smiled.
"He's here to stay as long as you're safe." Aaron said as the joy flooded back into his eyes.
Robert finished off his meal Aaron helped Robert go his feet and they walked upstairs to Aaron's room and they got ready for bed. They laid in bed watching some documentary about urban legends. Aaron had his head on Robert's bare chest and Robert had his arm around Aaron. Aaron was listening to the soft beating of Robert's heart and he then kissed Robert on his chest. Robert looked down at Aaron and he smiled, he could not believe how lucky he was to have such a strong willed boyfriend with the most beautiful heart imaginable. Robert's and Aaron's hands intertwined as if by magic but Robert had his thumb under his hand and he held onto something.
"I love you Aaron. You mean more to me then anything." Robert smiled to himself as he was now going to put his plan into motion.
"I love you too Rob." Aaron said not taking his eyes away from the TV screen.
Robert loosened his grip on Aaron's and then he smiled as he unearthed his thumb and he pushed something small onto Aarom's finger. Aaron looked at his hand when he felt something cold on one of his fingers, for a few seconds Aaron just starred at his left hand. He could not believe his eyes.
"So?" Robert asked.
"I... I don't know what to say." Aaron starred at the silver band around his ring finger.
"All you have to say is yes or no" Robert whispered.
Aaron looked at Robert "Yes." Aaron smiled and Robert smiled back at him They kissed each other on the lips.
When their lips parted Robert took his phone off of the bed side table and sent a text to someone "Get dressed, I have a surprise for you" Robert smirked.
"What is it?" Aaron asked.
"Get dressed and you'll see" Robert said as he got out of bed.
Once they were both dressed Aaron and Robert walked downstairs, Robert stood behind Aaron and he covered Aaron's eyes with his hands "Rob. What are doing?" Aaron asked with a small smile on his face.
"Do you trust me?" Robert whispered into Aaron's ear.
"Hhmm... let me think about it. I trust you." Aaron replied.
Robert guided him out of the backroom and into the pub and then they stopped behind the bar. But Robert was still covering Aaron's eyes.
"Hiya boys. Are you two ok?" Chas asked.
"Yeah we're alright." Robert smiled.
"I will be once I know what you've dragged me downstairs for". Aaron smiled nervously.
"Don't you like being in the dark?" Robert joked.
"I hate not being in control of what's happening" Aaron replied "Hold on, are we in the pub?"
"Yes we are in pub" Robert nodded at Chas and then he kissed Aaron on the cheek "But you'll have to get used to me wanting to control everything because we're getting married". Robert took his hands away from Aaron's eyes and everyone in the Woolpack cheered and let off party poppers. Robert looked at Aaron "Have I done good?".
Aaron turned his head and looked at Robert "You've done good" he smiled and kissed Robert on the lips. Everyone laughed and cheered.
Chas smiled when she saw her son happy "Aaww, look at you two".
"So I'm guessing that he said yes then" Cain said before taking a sip of his drink.
"Yes he did" Robert answered as he wrapped his arms around Aaron's chest and hugged him from behind. Aaron raised one arm and held one of Robert's wrists.
"You better look after my boy now. I won't be happy with you if I find him crying because you've been a complete wazzerk to him" Chas said in a stern voice.
"I'll look after him. I promise you that I will never let him down again" Robert rested his chin on Aaron's shoulder.
"If you ever let him down again I'll break every bone in your body. That's a promise." Cain said in a stern voice and he had a menacing look on his face.
"Point taken. I swear on my life that I will never let him down again." Robert said in a nervous voice.
"I can look after myself you know. I don't need a body guard 24/7" Aaron said when he heard the nervous tone in Robert's voice.
"I know, but I want to protect you." Robert smiled.
"Ok. But am I allowed to protect you?" Aaron asked.
"He'll need protecting if he upsets my big brother" Liv smirked "Did it hurt?"
Robert rolled his eyes "I told you, I barely felt it" an embarrassed look appeared on Robert's face.
"What happened?" Chas placed her hands on her hips to show authority.
"The first time that Liv and I met she stole my wallet and made a run for it. Robert ran after her to get it back and she kicked him" Aaron chuckled.
Robert's face went red with embarrassment when Chas and Cain started to laugh at him "It's not funny" Robert said sheepishly but then he realized that Aaron was also laughing "Don't you start." Robert sighed.
"Sorry Rob. But it's kind of funny that you were hunched over in pain because of my little sister" Aaron continued to laugh.
"I got your wallet back didn't I. And there goes my dignity" Robert said in a stroppy voice.
"Shut it you" Aaron moved his head to the side and kissed Robert on the cheek.
"Okay, that's made me feel a little better." Robert smiled.
"Cheer up, your engaged to me. You should be happy." Aaron smiled.
"Your right. Though... I'm very happy that you said yes to me" Robert made a cheesy smile.
"I love you, and you have proven that you love me. So why would I say no?" Aaron grinned.
"Either that or you've gone made, Aaron." Cain joked.
After talking to a load of people Aaron and Robert sat down at booth with Liv. Robert had one arm around Aaron whilst they talked to Liv, the door to the pub and someone walked in and stood at the bar and looked in Aaron's direction.
"Aaron, babe." Robert gave Aaron a light nudge.
"Yes Rob?" Aaron looked at Robert.
"I have one more surprise for you" Robert nodded at the man who was stood at the bar.
"Paddy?" Aaron asked when he saw Paddy.
"Hiya mate" Paddy smiled and Aaron got up and hugged him and Paddy hugged him back. Aaron and Paddy then walked over and sat at the booth with Robert and Liv. "How are you Robert? Chas texted me and she explained what happened."Paddy asked when he saw Robert's black eye, scratched cheek and split lip.
"I'm ok now. Aaron came to my rescue." Robert replied.
"I was so scared that I had lost you. Don't ever scare me like that again." Aaron looked at Robert.
"Nothing like that will ever happen again" Robert reassured.
"So your engaged". Paddy said with a joyous tone.
Robert smiled "Yep. Though I was scared that Mr here would say no, and then I would look like a complete idiot." Robert put his arm back over Aaron's shoulder.
"You are an idiot" Liv mumbled.
"He's my idiot." Aaron smiled.
"And your my village badboy" Robert kissed Aaron on the cheek.
"How did you propose" Paddy asked before taking a sip of his drink.
"We were watching TV, and we were holding hands and I just put a ring on his finger. He was a little shocked at first but he said yes." Robert said with a clear sense of joy in his voice.
"And then he dragged me down here." Aaron smirked.
"I had everything all planned out. It was just a little behind schedule" Robert hugged Aaron "The plan was for last night" Whilst Robert was talking he hid the fact that he was still in a lot of pain, but Aaron was aware that Robert was in pain and how fragile he really was.
"Speech!" Victoria shouted and then everyone else started to chant "Speech, speech, speech!"
Before either Aaron or Robert stood up Adam got up on one of the tables "I have a few words to say".
"You're already married you idiot!" Holly shouted at her brother.
"Yeah he is, to me!" Victoria shouted.
"The self proclaimed bestman has somethings to say to Robert Sugden. I'm Aaron's best man, in case non of you understood." Adam was clearly drunk.
"Well it's a good job that I was going to ask you to be my best man!" Aaron shouted and then he and Robert both laughed.
"Cheers mate. Anyway I have some things that I want to say to the blonde hunk over there" Adam pointed at Robert and everyone laughed. "It's true that Aaron is no angel, but then again neither are you. Since meeting Aaron I have known that trouble follows him everywhere, I have also noticed that most of the trouble over the past two years was because of you. But it is clear to me that you make Aaron very happy, and I have no doubt that you will take care of Aaron.
"And if he doesn't I'll sort him out!" Cain laughed.
"Best of luck with Aaron's family, because if you let Aaron down they will get revenge. The Dingles are like bees to honey, but their sting will put you in hospital or in the ground" Adam laughed.
Once Victoria had pulled Adam off of the table Robert stood up "I guess it's my turn now. Wish me luck." Robert looked at Aaron and then back at everyone else "I have been planning this for about two weeks, and everything has gone to plan." Robert took a piece of paper out of his pocket "I actually tried to write a speech but... I up ended with a doodle of me running away from Cain and Chas" Robert handed the piece of paper to Chas she showed everyone else and then she handed it back to Robert. "Now everyone knows how much Chas and Cain terrify me. Great... But I'm marrying a Dingle so I will just have to get used to them, however I am love and I would go to hell and back for him. From now on we go through everything together because I am never leaving you to face anything on your own again. So can all of you raise your glass to my brilliant fiancé, Aaron Dingle." Robert looked at Aaron and smiled.
"Aaron Dingle" Everyone raised their glasses to Aaron.
Robert sat back down next to Aaron "I've just made a fool of myself, haven't I?"
"No. You were fantastic. But can I see the drawing?" Aaron looked at Robert with puppy dog eyes.
Robert sighed "Fine. Are you going to do every time you want something?" he handed he piece of paper to Aaron.
"Hhmm, it's good but there's one thing wrong with it." Aaron smirked.
"Oh really? And what would that be?" Robert looked at the picture.
"Your head is too small" Aaron chuckled.
"What are you talking about? I look like a Robert bobble head doll" Robert's started to laugh when he realised what Aaron meant "Oi! I don't have a big head".
"Saying nothing" Aaron smiled.
"Hey! That's not fair" Robert laughed and he tickled Aaron under the arms.
A few minutes later Chrissie walked into the pub searching for Andy "There you are." She walked over and started to talk to Andy "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"We are celebrating" Andy answered.
"Celebrating what?" she asked when she saw Adam stumbling around the pub. He was very drunk now, and Victoria and Holly were trying to get him off of the table that he was dancing on top.
"Robert proposed to Aaron. He put all this together to surprise him" Andy said "Robert has changed, he really wants to make Aaron happy".
"What happened to him? He has a black eye and a cut lip" Chrissie asked when Chas handed her a glass of white wine.
"Gordon held Robert hostage at Wyllie's farm. He was there all night" Chas said in a sad voice.
"He looks like he has been through hell" Chrissie pointed out Robert's black eye.
"He was tied up and Gordon punched him a lot. When Aaron got there Gordon was about to punch Robert again, Gordon held a gun to Robert's head" Chas looked at Chrissie "If he was given the chance Gordon would've killed Robert in front of Aaron. Both of them would've died if Aaron hadn't grabbed Robert's wrist as he fell through the floor boards. Gordon wasn't so lucky. The cuts and bruises on his chest and stomach are very painful for Robert.".
"How do you know?" Andy asked.
Chas sighed before she spoke "I've seen that look on Aaron's face too many times. He's trying to hide it but that's exactly what Aaron used to do so I wouldn't know how much pain he was in. I trained myself to recognize the signs when Aaron was cutting himself because I thought that he would end up killing himself. He would act very skittish around people, especially me and Paddy so I had to learn what the signs were. Haven't you noticed that Aaron is being very careful when he hugs or kisses Robert?"
Andy and Chrissie both looked at Robert and they realised that Chas was right, Robert was in agony from being beaten up so badly. But he would not let it show, for Aaron's sake. Robert did not want to look vulnerable in front of anyone especially Aaron because he knew that it would make Aaron feel guilty. But Aaron did notice when Robert gripped his bandaged wrist, he saw the pain in Robert's eyes "Rob. Don't hold your wrist, it will cause it to hurt more than it already does." Aaron whispered in Robert's ear.
"How do you know?" Robert whispered back to Aaron.
"Liv, it's getting late. Go to bed you have school tomorrow." Aaron looked at Liv to tell her to go to bed.
"Fine. Night Aaron, night Paddy. Night rat faced Robert." Liv walked into the backroom and up the stairs to her room to go to bed.
"I know because that's what I used to do after I would hurt myself. I can also see it in your eyes, you can't hide something like that. Especially from me, Robert trust me on this" Aaron looked at Robert.
"Do you want me to have a look at it?" Paddy asked.
"Yes please, but I have to warn you that it's not pleasant" Robert warned as he unwrapped the bandages on his wrist.
"I've seen the cuts on Aaron so I'm sure that I've got the stomach for it" Paddy sat forward. Robert held out his wrist so that Paddy could inspect the large slit going up his wrist. Paddy took a good look at Robert's wrist to check for any signs of infection. "Is it sore?" Paddy asked as he gently turned Robert's wrist to the side.
"Yeah. It hurts a lot, Aaron did clean it but... it still hurts" Robert winced "Is it bad?"
"Well done for cleaning it Aaron. If it had been left you would have got Septicemia Robert. It isn't bad, just change the bandages regularly" Paddy gave Robert a reassuring smile and let go of his wrist and Robert tried to bandage it up again, but he struggled because he was using his weaker wrist that he did not write with.
"I've had plenty of practice. Robert, do you want me to bandage it up again? Because you're doing a bad job of it." Aaron smiled at Robert.
"Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing." Robert held his wrist out and Aaron began to re-bandage it up.
"It's a good job that you have me to look after you then, isn't it?" Aaron joked.
"I'm going to need looking after if Cain give's Liv punching lessons" Robert laughed.
After three hours of drinking and Adam dancing on tables and chairs, everyone went home and Aaron and Robert helped Chas clean up "That image of Adam doing the funky chicken and gangdam style has scarred me for life" Chas said as she went around the pub picking up all of the empty glasses.
"How much did he have to drink?" Aaron asked as he cleaned up the broken glass on the floor. Adam had dropped his drink whilst dancing to gangdam style even though Jess Glynnes's song Real love was playing at the time.
"I counted eight beers and two shots" Robert said as he picked up the empty snack boils.
"He won't remember anything by morning, he'll have a massive hangover." Chas giggled.
"I filmed it, so I can jog his memory" Robert smiled and showed Aaron the video on his phone. Aaron laughed at the sight of a drunk Adam dancing on a table with a pint in one hand.
"I can't believe you filmed it." Chas laughed when she saw the video.
"I couldn't help myself. It was so funny" Robert laughed.
After cleaning up Aaron and Robert said goodnight to Chas and they went upstairs to bed. Aaron had to act like a crutch for Robert going up the stairs because he was struggling to walk. They got ready for bed again and then they both laid down on the bed, Robert rested his head on Aaron's bare chest and placed his hand on Aaron's chest.
"This has been an eventful few hours" Robert smiled as he stroked Aaron's chest with his finger tips.
"You got that right." Aaron smiled as he stroked Robert's hair.
"Would Cain really break every bone in my body if I let you down again?" Robert chuckled.
"It's Cain. He would beat you black and blue if the old Robert came back." Aaron said as he closed his eyes.
"Good job that I'm not that man anymore. I Will never let you down again" Robert kissed Aaron on the chest.
"I know" Aaron whispered before he fell asleep.
"We make a good team, we'll go through everything together from now on." Robert realised that he was talking to himself "Aaron?" he looked up and saw that Aaron was asleep "I love you so much" he whispered before he turned the lamp off and then he held Aaron's hand and he went to sleep.