Confrontation

Three months later they were sure he was still taking the dilaudid but they had no proof. He hadn't ever recovered his usual self after his run in with Charlie Huxxam. His physical injuries had healed almost within a week and he was back at work in two.

He'd changed though. It wasn't staring everyone in the face but they'd noticed little things about him that seemed off. He was a lot more irritable of late and secretive. On their last case he'd been incredibly short with the Sheriff prompting him to ask what had crawled up his arse and died. He'd also disappeared a lot of the time. They were all short of it but didn't know how about confronting him.

One day Jack turned to the couple and asked, "Dad, can we go to the circus? I want to see the clowns."

Suddenly he just turned round to him and answered sharply, "No," then took off leaving both his boyfriend and son stunned. This wasn't like him at all. He'd never said no to him before without giving him a reason.

Jack looked at Spencer hurt trying not to show the tears he felt bubbling under the surface. "Spencer, dad's not the same anymore. Have I done something wrong?" he asked.

Spencer tried to bite back the tears bubbling in his throat and wrapped his arms around the boy he loved almost like his own son. "No Jack, you've done nothing wrong. Dad just has an issue but we'll help him over it, won't we?" he answered.

He nodded. "I'll help him with anything."

"You're the best son anyone could ask for."He smiled up at him. "I promise when this is all over we'll go to the circus." He smiled even more. "Now I'm going to find your dad."

He went off and found he was outside in the garden pacing around. He then stopped and gazed into the sky. Seeing Spencer by the back door he turned away growling, "I have nothing to say."

"We're going to get to the bottom of this. We're going to kick this addiction for once and for all," he answered firmly.

"I don't have an addiction," he answered kicking his feet knowing how much that was a falsehood. He couldn't bring his eyes to look into the ones he loved so much knowing how much pain he was causing his family but he just couldn't kick off the dilaudid's hold on him no matter how hard he'd tried it was always calling out to him.

Spencer rolled his eyes annoyed and walked off to the bathroom. "Where are you going?" Aaron panicked chasing after him.

Spencer raided their bathroom cabinet until he found exactly what he was looking for at the back of their cupboard. He brought out the hidden bottle of dilaudid and Aaron's eyes opened wide in alarm. He then watched him open the bottle and pour it down the sink while he tried to stop him.

"What did you just do?" he freaked out.

"Saved you," he answered firmly. "I won't have you going down that road. I love you too much to see you destroy yourself and everything that matters to you. You might not thank me now but you will down the line."

He looked at him with tears stinging his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Spencer. Believe me I've tried to come off it but every time I try it calls out to me loud and I can't stop myself. I need help, please help me."

He wrapped his arms around the man he loved with everything in him and answered, "Aaron, you're not going to fight this alone. I'm going to be here every step of the way. I know how hard it is to battle the addiction. Dave's on his way to take you to rehab..." When he saw his lover's eyes open wide he added, "I know how hard it is and I believe this is the only way. It'll only be a couple of weeks and we'll cope. I'll be here when you come out so will Jack and the team. We've already agreed to keep it secret so the Bureau won't know..."

"What about Jack?" he answered worried.

"We'll take care of him, you know we will. You need this, honey. I just wish I'd accepted help when I was recovering from my addiction instead of trying to go it alone."

He nodded. "I'll go. I need the help." He then added looking up vulnerably, "You'll still be here when I come out?"

"Of course I will. I love you, Aaron," he answered hugging him close.

"I love you too, Spencer," he answered holding him close to him.

Soon they heard footsteps and someone clear their throat. They looked to see Dave in the door looking at them pityingly. He knew the next couple of weeks was going to be tough on them both but at the end of the day they'd still have each other and at the end they'd hopefully have Aaron completely back.

"Ready?" he asked.

Aaron nodded. "I'll just get my go bag."

He did so then made his goodbyes to his family and let his best friend drive him towards the rehab. Aaron watched them out of the window as he saw Spencer lead Jack back into the house.

"Spencer, where's Uncle Dave taking dad?" Jack asked once they were back in the house.

"He's taking him somewhere that can help him overcome his issue. He'll be there for a couple of weeks but we'll get to talk to him over the phone everyday..." he answered. Jack nodded glad he was still going to get to hear his dad's voice even if he wasn't going to get to see him. "Once he's out he'll still be fighting his issue a little but we'll help him, won't we?"

He nodded looking at him incredulously answering, "Of course we will."

"I'll make sure we still have fun while he's there as we'll both miss him so much we'll need to have extra fun."

"Great idea."