Archive of Our Own ^beta

Robert and Vic talking about the affair era and Aaron

“Alright, yeah, course I’ll tell him. Well, he’s smiling at me right now.” - said Robert as he spoke to Aaron on the phone. They were finally on a video call. Getting a proper signal in Scotland was a nightmare. They tried it three times already today, but it always cut out before Aaron could see Seb. He went away with Liv on that road trip a few days ago, and he didn’t want to admit it at first, but he missed Seb terribly. So when Robert suggested a video call, he jumped at the opportunity. - “Oi mate, do you wanna say hi to Aaron?” - asked Robert, bringing Seb into view. The little boy saw Aaron and tried to grab the phone from his dad’s hands. - “See? I told you. He misses you.” - said Robert laughing, trying to hold the phone still, so Aaron could see them properly.

“Okay, I believe you know.” - answered Aaron, grinning. Sometimes it was still hard to believe how a few months ago he didn’t think that he would be so happy now. With a family. Robert taking every opportunity to refer to him as Seb’s dad. It made him feel good. He felt like his dad. He loved that kid. And he was never afraid to show it. After a couple of minutes, Aaron looked at his watch before he sighed - “Look, sorry but I gotta go now, talk to you later, yeah? Bye, little man, be good.” - he added, waving and smiling at Seb before he ended the call.

“Well, at least the signal was okay this time.” - said Robert to Seb, but mainly to himself. Oblivious to him, Vic was listening in on this conversation. She just got home from the pub when she heard her brother on the phone. She didn’t wanna disturb them, so she waited for the right time to announce her arrival.

“Alright you two?” - she asked, stepping into the room. Robert was putting Seb back into his cot, both of them still smiling.

“Yeah, it’s all fine, we’ve just spoken to Aaron, isn’t that right, Seb?” - he started as he looked at his son, but then he turned to Vic. - “What?” - he asked. His sister had a goofy smile on her face without any proper reason, and honestly, it weirded him out.

“Nothing, it’s just good to see you so happy. Fancy a brew?” - she asked, but she didn’t even wait for his answer; she already went to the kitchen. Occupational hazard. - “So, how’s Aaron and Liv?”

“They’re fine, he sends me pictures.... sometimes.” -he chuckled. His husband was never a fan of social media, but Robert was stubborn enough not to let it drop until he had some fresh photos of their adventures.

“You miss him, right?” - asked Vic, sitting next to Robert with tea in her hand. He passed the other mug to Robert.

“Yeah.” - said Robert, taking a sip - “A bit.” - he added, laughing. He didn’t wanna sound like a soppy git, but he was practically moping, and Vic saw that.

“You know, when we were kids, I never thought we would live the life we’re living now.” - she started. And that’s when Robert knew this was gonna be a long conversation.

“No kidding.” - he said, sighing.

“Robert?” - asked Vic, turning her head in his direction. Robert waited for her question, but he never thought it would be anything like this. - “Have you always loved Aaron? I mean, back when you were having an affair.”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” - tried Robert. He knew she wasn’t gonna let it drop - “Why are you even asking me this?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to.” - she shrugged - “Come on, we never talked about this stuff. I wanna know more about you. He makes you happy, he’s obviously done that for a long time, but you never told anyone… well, because of obvious reasons, but still.”

“Alright. I guess you never really cornered me with questions, ever since it all came out, so just this once.....” - he said, leaving the end of the sentence hanging in the air. Just this once, I’m gonna talk about my feelings he thought.

“So? How did it start? I heard him telling Chrissie you took the first step. You know you could’ve told me....” - she said, slapping his thigh playfully, there wasn’t any anger in her voice - “Back then, I mean. I would’ve understood! - said Vic.

“I know, but up until 2016, I’ve never even said it out loud.” - he said, then looked at Vic’s confused face, so he continued -“That I’m bisexual. And by the way, it’s true. I went after him. He just got me pulled in. I was hopeless.” - he chuckled. Vic listened to him in awe. Her big brother was actually talking about his feelings. It was rare and truly beautiful.

“That’s why you couldn’t stop it?” - she asked, thinking about the affair.

“I never wanted to stop. He was like… a breath of fresh air. I was myself around him. I let my guard down, and finally, I was the Robert I’ve always wanted to be. But I was too afraid to actually do something about it.” - he explained.

“You know I’ve always wanted to ask.... when you were trying to propose to him, you set the whole thing up in a barn....” - Robert could see the question forming in her head, but obviously she didn’t know how to get it out.

“Yeah, erm… that was kind of a special place for us.” - he said, blushing a little.

“You mean…”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” - and she was blushing too. - “So you definitely weren’t with him only for the thrill of it?”

“Vic, I love the man! I always have.” - he said with a soft smile. - “I was in denial, but I knew how I felt. It was always love. I just didn’t wanna admit it. It was scary. There were times I wished I had the guts to say something.... to Chrissie, to Aaron, to anyone really. But…”

“You kept quiet.” - she nodded, finishing his thought.

“Look, I’m not proud of how I behaved back then, but that’s the past. Aaron knows that as well. “

“Of course, I didn’t mean to…”

“No, I know. I’m just saying. Calling him my husband is the most natural thing ever.” - he said with the biggest smile.

“I’m so glad you’re happy.” - she said, hugging him. - “So, speaking of you calling him your husband.... when’s gonna be the wedding? The proper one, I mean. Because you guys never got hitched legally.” - she said, smirking.

“Alright, hold your horses. I can already see you buying a hat for the summer.”

“The summer?” - she asked, being excited already.

“No, it wasn’t a hint or anything, so... please don’t start the gossip.” - he said, basically begging.

“Alright, but I expect to know about everything... you know beforehand.” - she smiled.

“Fine, you’ll be the first to know. - said Robert, rolling his eyes before he picked up Seb. He just needed a quick getaway, and taking Seb to sleep was a good enough reason to leave the room for a bit. Maybe he already had a plan. Maybe he was waiting for the perfect opportunity. Maybe it wasn’t long before it arrives.

After dealing with Seb, he went back to the living room. Vic was still sitting on the couch. He sat beside her and took a photograph out of his wallet. It was definitely not a recent one. It seemed like it was folded over way too many times, but still in a pretty good state.

“Here”. He said simply as he gave it to her.

“What’s this?” - she asked as she got it in her hands.

“You said you were curious about me and Aaron. This picture...” - he said, pointing at it - ”...was taken back in 2015. Easter to be precise. He stayed with me for a whole week.” - he said with a soppy smile.

“That’s why I never saw you that time!” - she said. Now that Robert mentioned this, she started to remember - “And Aaron was skiving from the scrapyard all the time. Adam had to take care of everything.” - she said, not believing that she'd never thought about this before. It was obvious really.

“Okay, chill out. It was years ago.” - said Robert laughing - “You were having a row with Adam anyway.” - after Robert said this, Vic looked at him with the question How the hell did you know that? written all over her face. - “Aaron told me, obviously. Besides, you wanted to know about my private life. I finally give in, show you something personal, and what do I get? Grief. Honestly, Vic....” - he said, still smiling while he snatched the picture from Vic’s hand.

“Right, give it back, let me have a proper look.” - she said, taking back the photo. - “You two looked pretty loved up.”

“Well, we had the house all to ourselves for an entire week. I could relax with him.”

“Relax? Is that what you call this?” - she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Alright, I think you’ve seen enough.” - he said, taking the picture from her.

“No, Robert, please tell me more!” - she said, whining.

“There’s nothing to tell. We had a great time. I never saw him that carefree before, and it was good. It was probably the first time I thought about telling Chrissie. Well, for a second or two.” - he added laughing. - “Being with Aaron, it felt… nothing like before. It felt perfectly right.”

“Then why did ya keep on lying?”

“Because… I wasn’t ready to let people know. I was afraid that...I don’t know. That they would judge me, which they did by the way.” - he said, looking at his sister for a second. - “I wasn’t ready to face who I was. It sounds mad now, but back then? It was all I knew. I was too afraid to say a thing, but at the same time I was too selfish to let Aaron go.”

“Well, you have him now.”

“Yeah, for good. And I know I’m lucky.” - he said with a soft smile. - “He’s the best. And not just with me, with Seb as well. He’s amazing, Vic. The way he is around him. It’s so good to watch them together.”

“Aww, look at you, soppy git.”

“Shut up.” - he said, pushing her a bit before his phone started ringing. - “It’s Aaron, I should probably get it.” - he said, looking at Vic - “And, you cannot tell him I showed you this photo, nobody saw it before. He would go mental.” - he said, laughing before he took the call.