Chapter Text
A loud bang rang in his ears as he woke up, sweat dripping down his face. Was that what he thought? Did he just see his own death? Faint memories came flooding back to him as he caught his breath. The scrapyard. Whistling. Then nothing but the ringing in his ears.
He looked down at the other side of the bed but it was empty, the duvet neatly laid across the mattress and the pillows stacked tidily. A note was scrawled across a messy piece of paper on top of the pillows.
Liv missed the bus. Again. Taken your car to drop her off.
Aaron.
Robert put the note down on his bedside table and made his way through to the bathroom. His breath was still shaky as he looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were shadowed with black bags and the ringing made his eyes go fuzzy as he stared back at himself. Gazing into his own eyes, he was still trying to comprehend if the situation he just witnessed was a vision or a dream, when the door downstairs slammed shut and knocked Robert out of his thoughts.
He made his way down the stairs and saw Aaron put a bag of shopping on the kitchen table. As he put his feet on the cold floor of the mill Aaron turned around and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry. I didn't meant to wake you" Aaron said wincing as he realised the time.
"Nah, don't worry. I was awake before you came back anyway" Robert reassured him as he made his way over to the table to look inside the big bag of groceries, "What's all this for?"
Aaron tilted his head and stared at Robert. "My mum and Paddy are coming for dinner tonight remember? We planned it last week." he encouraged Robert to recall, "I thought I could cook something so they can see what a master-chef I am." he finished with a snort, Robert looking at him with over exaggerated disagreement.
"Well I can't say I'm looking forward to it.. but I guess I can try." Robert joked and received a angry nudge from his husband. "What are you going to make anyway?"
"Like you don't already know" Aaron retorted sarcastically, "I know how fast that psychic brain of yours works. I bet you're already planning ways to get rid of the aftertaste."
Robert grinned, his husband was correct. He had just delved in his mind for a vision of what was to come that evening but was quickly reminded of the vision he'd woken up to. Butterflies flew around his stomach.
"Am I right or am I right?" Aaron said triumphantly, whizzing Robert out of his thoughts.
"You know me so well" Robert answered jokingly before he placed a quick kiss on Aaron's cheek and made his way towards the much needed coffee machine.
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Later that evening at dinner, Aaron couldn't help but notice something wrong with his husband. His eyes kept becoming distant in amongst all the chatting, as if he kept replaying something in his mind.
Chas and Paddy weren't aware of Robert's ability so Aaron kept it quiet. Robert had promised that he would tell them but that was years ago the chance to tell them had gotten really low and he wasn't sure they would ever be able to tell them.
"So Robert, is Seb getting on well with Rebecca and Ross?" Paddy asked forcing Robert out of his daze.
"Yeah, but he's coming back next weekend, we are going to take him to the new park in Leeds" Robert explained as he cleared his throat.
"Oh, really? Have you discussed it with Rebecca then?" Chas wondered, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"No, I'll call her tonight" Robert said blatantly, completely forgetting the situation they were in.
"Well then how do you know-" Chas started but was cut off by Aaron trying to find his way out of the hole that Robert was digging.
"Time for dessert!" He exclaimed in a loud voice. As he was collecting all the plates, he made eye contact with Robert who was looking at him apologetically. Careful Aaron mouthed to his husband.
Once the evening was over and Chas and Paddy had finally left after congratulating Aaron on his cooking as if he'd just won an Oscar, Robert went over to the sink and filled up a glass of water, gulping it down in one go. Aaron looked over from his seat on the sofa as Robert let out a loud gasp after finishing.
"Was it really that bad?" Aaron asked sarcastically, smirking at his husband who did not look impressed.
"No it's not the food, I'm tired" Robert explained, making his way over to sit next to his husband on the sofa. Once he got there he fell on his side and put his head in Aaron's lap, letting him stroke the side of his head.
"So tired you almost outed yourself to our family?" Aaron asked, some humour in his voice. Robert groaned as he remembered the conversation about Seb from before further burying his face into Aaron's lap. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I'm just excited to see Seb" Robert admitted.
"Me too" Aaron said as he turned Robert's head to face him. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Robert's lips, smiling as he pulled away. Robert turned on his back so he was facing Aaron. They stared at each other and Robert's confession about his vision was on the tip of his tongue when his voice was competed with Aaron's. They both stopped abruptly and laughed at their collision of ideas.
"You go first" Robert encouraged, a wave of gladness came over him when he realised he could put off his confession for a moment.
"I was just thinking we could make up for this morning, considering I wasn't able to stay in bed with you as long as I would have liked to" Aaron smirked as he saw Robert's lips do the same. "And Liv isn't getting back until late so we've got a while"
"You read my mind." Robert lied as he quickly sat up and pulled Aaron off the sofa, guiding him upstairs.
It would have to wait.