Chapter Text
The excitement of weddings was in the air around the village. Victoria Sugden was getting married in two days and everyone in the village was getting ready. It has been coming for three years after she had met Charlie for the first time at the gym. Aaron had introduced him to Vic. He had landed a huge new contract for his scrap yard with a business in Hotten and Charlie ended up being his contact there which became even better when they both realized they knew each other from the gym.
Vic and Charlie had been dating for a couple of years. Vic was getting concerned it wasn't going anywhere and was about to call it off when she discovered she was pregnant. That was all it took to finally get Charlie to pop the question and here they are three years since they first met and four months after little Abigail entered the world getting ready for the wedding of Victoria Sugden and Charlie Williams.
Aaron was wrapping up business at the scrap yard before he shut it down for the next three days. He had given Gerry and his other three employees the time off. Aaron needed to finish up the plans for Charlie's stag. He had been working with Charlie's brother and father in putting it together but since they lived down in Birmingham and weren't going to be in town until later today right before the stag he'd taken on the job of being their point man. It wasn't going to be all that fancy. Charlie didn't come from a family with a lot of money so the funds for the stag were limited which suited Aaron fine. They'd start at the Woolpack before doing a pub crawl in Hotten which was really right up Aaron's alley.
Charlie had turned into a good mate for Aaron. They had met about a year after Aaron's life had turned upside in 2018. It had started with Adam being arrested and then convicted for the murder of Emma Barton. He then escaped from the police van that was transporting him back to prison from the courts. Aaron knew Cain and others in the family had been involved but they had kept him completely out it. Same with Vic. She didn't know what had happened until later as well. Then it came out a few months later that Adam had been set up by his half brother Pete who was the one who actually had pushed Emma off the viaduct that day but Adam was already gone with no way to contact him so all anyone could hope for was that he had landed in a safe place and was making a good life for himself. It still had been a tough ordeal for Aaron to get through. Losing his best mate possibly forever was hard especially with what else was happening at the same time.
Aaron was also dealing with the aftermath of the White family fiasco with Robert leaving the village with Sebastian. It had finally come out over the holidays that Robert never slept with Rebecca. She had made it all up to break up Aaron and Rob and for her to hopefully trap Robert into a family with her. After Aaron broke up with Robert the previous summer, Rob had fell into a deep hole and blamed the White's for everything and proceeded to destroy their family from within. Unbeknownst to anyone Rebecca was also hiding a secret that she was ill but a lot more ill than she even realized. Giving birth sent her on a downward spiral and she died of a heart attack only two months later. The White's imploded with Lachlan killing his grandfather and Chrissie then killing her own son. Even though Robert was not Sebastian's biological father he was listed on the birth certificate and Robert had actually fallen in love with the little boy when he was born. Then, Robert and the baby had inherited the entire White estate and many in the village, including Aaron, thought Robert was only after the money. Aaron had other issues about the whole ordeal as well so Aaron gave Robert an ultimatum. After one particular tough night between the two of them he had told Robert he had to choose him or Sebastian and in the end Robert chose the little boy and they soon left the village.
It devastated Aaron for months. On one hand he was sad because he still loved Robert and wanted him by his side but on the other hand it really did feel like Robert hadn't changed and was choosing money over Aaron. Aaron also still struggled with the idea of Sebastian even though he now knows Rob never cheated on him with Rebecca. Sebastian was still a remainder of all of the hurt and pain everyone went through because of her lies. So because he wasn't strong enough to accept Sebastian he had to watch Robert walk away for good.
So when 2019 rolled around Aaron was still working through all the hurt from the previous two years but he was becoming more focused than ever on his business which led to the huge new contract and the new friendship with Charlie. Aaron initially had interest in Charlie himself but once he learned he was straight it didn't take long before he was introducing him to Vic who had also just spent the past year getting over the losses of Adam and Robert herself.
The pain of losing Robert reared its head again later in 2019 when it came out that Robert had donated most of the White money to fund the construction of a new wing at Leeds University Teaching Hospital that was dedicated to heart related medicine. It was then that Aaron finally realized that Robert hadn't chosen the money over Aaron but he had chosen Sebastian. Robert really had fallen in love with the little boy back when he thought he was the biological father and he still had that love for the boy after he found out he wasn't. Then Aaron forced him to make the choice between the two people Robert loved more than anything in the world. In the end Robert sacrificed his love for Aaron and chose the helpless and innocent baby boy. It was the type of sacrifice a real parent makes unconditionally for their child. Robert also sacrificed Aaron's love toward him knowing Aaron would eventually accept the decision he made and would move on and find someone new to be happy and in love with. What Robert didn't know was just how much more in love Aaron become with Robert once he understood the reality of the choice he forced Robert to make.
In the four and half years since Robert left Aaron's life had been a mixed bag. The first two years he focused on raising Liv, growing the scrap yard business, going to counseling and just trying to work through everything that had happened and that he had lost. He dated a little bit but nothing was ever serious. He had the occasional one night stand but he stayed focused on what was important. Liv graduated in 2020 and was accepted into Edinburgh University. She landed some scholarship money for their art program and then it was discovered that Robert had set up a college fund for her back in 2016 that now had enough money in it to cover the rest of the tuition plus most of Liv's living expenses while in uni. Even though it was a godsend since most of her inheritance was stilled tied up in Mill Cottage Aaron was upset. Aaron always thought Robert tossed money around just to show off and initially that is what he thought this was too. He didn't want to use it until his mum pointed out how ridiculous that would be because there was no other way to afford to pay for her uni so why deprive Liv of her dream. Aaron also had to admit that he wasn't upset at Robert for the fund as much as he was upset at himself for sending Robert away when this was just another example of how much Robert had loved him and Liv and he had never totally believed him. Just another example of how stupid he had been and was now paying the price.
After Liv was off to university Aaron went through a little bit of empty nest syndrome at the ripe old age of 28. But he was quickly reminded by others that he was still young and needed to get himself out there and meet people. He dated a few guys, even had one relationship that lasted a good six months but again nothing ever stuck long term. Eventually this led him back to being focused on work and hitting Hotten for some action of some kind when the urge hit him. Eventually he found a small group of guys that turned into drinking and fuck buddies.
Most of Aaron's friends and family had hoped by now he would have found someone and settled down but he hadn't. He never got past forcing Robert to make a choice and that there really had been no reason to have done that. Aaron couldn't let go of the guilt. Most people thought it made Aaron feel second best but in reality he was just punishing himself because he let the love of his life slip through his fingers due to his lack of trust.
Today he has no clue where Robert is. No one does. Not even Vic and Diane. They see him once or twice a year and it's always on a holiday someone. He has never allowed anyone from Emmerdale to know where he is or what he is doing. Aaron wonders what Robert's life is like today. He knows Seb is now four and half years old but he knows nothing else. Has Robert found someone else? Why wouldn't he? He is beautiful and when he does let you in he is the perfect man. Diane and Vic have said there has been no one else with him when they see him on holidays but that doesn't mean there isn't someone.
But all of that was about to change because Robert was coming to Vic's wedding and he has RSVP'd as a family of three that would be attending. That could only mean there must be a partner that Robert is bringing along with Sebastian. What else could a family of three mean? Aaron hasn't decided what his feelings are about that or about seeing Robert again after all of these years. It's been four and half years since Robert left the village so of course he's moved on. Just because Aaron hasn't moved on that much doesn't mean Robert wouldn't have. So he's already starting to prepare himself mentally for whomever Robert is with now.