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Chas had never exactly been Robert's number one fan.
They’d been acquaintances, enemies, even friends at times and her opinion of him ebbed and flowed. When she'd first laid eyes on him, he was a messy teenager who left nothing but destruction in his wake. That boy was a man now. A man whom Chas had watched slip up over and over and over again.
You couldn't exactly blame her for being paranoid, not after John. The other Sugden brother had managed to trick everyone, and although Chas now admitted her preference for John was - at times - purely out of spite for Robert, it still didn't mean she fully trusted him again. Unfortunately for her, Robert's default state of being seemed to be attached to her son's hip and Aaron and Robert had fallen back into a domesticity that made Chas uneasy.
She was looking out for the signs - the unexplained absences, the vague phone contacts, the defensiveness. She hadn't had much luck. Until one afternoon, she stumbled across Robert making a shifty phone call out the back of the Woolpack. She didn't even hesitate to listen in.
“Yeah, name under Jon Snow.” Robert hushed into the receiver. “Yeah, Friday, that’s right. My date’s gonna love it, cheers.”
Chas watched Robert check his surroundings, making sure he wasn’t overheard. Unfortunately, he was.
Chas slipped back into the pub to find her son waiting at a table in the corner, completely unaware of the dodgy goings-on of Robert, his fiancé. Chas shivered at the thought of having Robert as a son-in-law yet again, but maybe that wasn't going to happen, not now he was making mysterious reservations under false names.
Robert joined Aaron a few seconds later, and Chas had her eyes glued on them. She watched as Robert placed his phone mindlessly on the table. She had to take a look at that phone. When Robert popped off to the loo, she tried to think of how to get it without Aaron noticing, but thankfully, she didn't have to think hard. Aaron asked Chas to watch their stuff as he nipped away too.
“Course, love.” She forced a smile as she watched Aaron disappear into the toilets. The moment he was out of sight, she sprang into action.
Luckily for her, the pub was almost empty, so nobody blinked twice as she walked up to the table and pocketed Robert's phone. She was almost proud of how smoothly her little heist went as she retreated to the backroom to continue her snooping.
--
Robert was waiting patiently against the hand dryer.
“Well, hello, stranger.” Robert grinned. “It's all booked.” He whispered.
Aaron suppressed a smile. Something about Robert booking on the phone was significantly sexier than breathing down his neck as he did it online.
“You gonna mention it to your mum?” Robert asked.
“Don’t think I need to announce my sex life to my mother, thank you very much.”
“Yeah, but she might worry if you disappear for a night, you know how she is.”
“Robert. It’ll be fine.” Aaron reached for Robert's waist, pulling him into a soft kiss.
Robert hummed. “Practice round, eh?”
They clumsily stumbled into a cubicle, pressing up against each other just to get the door closed.
“Like old times, eh?” Robert muttered into Aaron’s neck as he bit down. “Me having you in here, with your mum out the front. None the wiser.”
“Fuck, Robert," Aaron whimpered.
“Remember those nights upstairs? Having to keep quiet in this clown car of a house.” Robert brought a hand to squeeze Aaron through his trousers and was rewarded with a breathy moan from the younger man. “You’re so good. What if someone walks in? You gonna put a show on for them?”
Aaron whined as Robert pulled his shirt off, but his carelessness with the black fabric shook him out of his lust-filled stupor.
“Oi, careful – I don’t want toilet water on my new shirt.” Aaron snarled.
“Really?” Robert looked at the shirt scathingly. “Can’t have you ruining your brand new, completely unique black t-shirt, can we?”
“That’s funny, you’re really funny, you.” Aaron droned. Robert draped the shirt over the edge of the cubicle before piling his own on top, the blue and black fabric melding together into an amorphous blob of cotton and polyester.
Robert resumed his assault on Aaron’s neck. He was definitely going to bruise, but he couldn’t care less when Robert was the one doing the bruising.
Robert pulled back and Aaron whined at the loss of contact, but as he watched Robert drop to his knees, he suddenly didn't mind.
--
Passcode. Bugger.
Chas paused to think for a moment. What would Robert use? Chas wasn’t even sure he was the sentimental type to set passcodes as significant dates, but she gave it a go anyway.
Surely if Robert used a birthday, it would be his son's, so she tried Seb’s: 0911. The phone didn’t open.
Who else? Victoria. 3103. The phone still didn't let her in.
Chas didn’t have time for this - either she would get locked out from too many attempts, or the boys would come looking. She needed to think.
She didn’t want to try it, but as soon as she thought of it she knew it was her best chance. 0501.
The phone unlocked.
Chas felt a little sick. Here she was trying to catch Robert cheating on her son, when his birthday was Robert's passcode.
She opened Robert’s call history and quickly scanned the number. There was no caller ID, so Chas yanked out her own phone and copied it over. She held her breath as she rang it.
“Hello, Plaza Hotel, Jessica speaking. How may I be of service?”
Chas hung up. Maybe the booking was for Aaron? She shook her head. Why was she trying to make excuses for Robert? She would have to ask Aaron later if he has plans on Friday night.
The boys hadn't returned when she went to replace the phone. She wondered what on earth was keeping them.
--
Aaron grabbed Robert’s blue t-shirt from the top of the cubicle.
“Oi!” Robert playfully pawed at Aaron’s arm.
“You’re the one who said I needed to wear more colour, which, mind you, you’re not exactly the most adventurous, Mr ‘300 different blue suits’.
Robert rolled his eyes, but there was a flash of something else behind it. Sadness. Then Aaron remembered that Robert didn’t own any of those suits anymore.
“Sorry.” Aaron grabbed his own shirt.
“No,” Robert shook his head, snatching the black fabric from Aaron, “If it means I get to wear your brand new shirt.” He smirked greedily.
Aaron tugged back on it playfully. “No, actually, I was gonna wear both, make you put on a show out there,” Aaron informed, shrugging his shoulders.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Robert laughed.
--
Chas eyed them closely when they emerged from the bathroom. She immediately noticed their little game of mix-and-match.
She rolled her eyes, “Honestly, you two.”
Maybe the hotel booking was for the two of them after all.
--
“So, I thought maybe you and I could do something Friday night? Maybe take Eve to a film.” Chas suggested after she had successfully roped Aaron into reorganising her spice cabinet later that day.
Aaron fiddled with the shaker of paprika in his hands. “Dunno, I’ve got some errands to run out of town. Was gonna go out for a drink while I was there.” Aaron shrugged.
“So, no other plans?” Chas pondered. “What about your other half?”
“Nah, he’s got a business meeting.”
“Business meeting? He’s a farmer now, ain’t he? What business has he got?”
“The farm is a business, thank you very much. He's got deals to make, suppliers to win over.” Aaron informed, and it made Chas's skin crawl. Aaron hadn’t even considered the other option — how could he be this naïve? It was not long ago when Aaron used to be a ‘business meeting’.
“Right.” She drawled.
“Mum—it’s not—he’s not.”
“You sure about that? It’s not like he doesn’t have form.” Chas sneered. She remembered Robert’s words from the call. ‘My date’.
“Mum. Trust me, it’s not that.” Aaron huffed, discarding the paprika on the bench. “Look, if you can’t help but accuse my fiancé of cheating on me, then I might as well be off.”
“Aaron, love—"
“Bye, Mum.” Aaron pushed past her, and he was gone.
Aaron’s faith in Robert made Chas feel sick. She was going to prove it. She was going to catch him.
--
Aaron decided he was going to leave before Robert, as he really did have a few errands to run first. He packed one of his black suits into his car, not wanting anyone to catch him in it and assume he’d been summoned to court or something. The suit was part of the (admittedly embarrassing) scenario he and Robert had planned, which Aaron didn't want anyone to even get a whiff of - especially after he'd already lied to his mum about it.
Robert was standing at the entrance of the Mill, and Aaron could feel his eyes burning into him.
“Someone likes the view.”
“You have no idea,” Robert smirked, coming over to give Aaron a beige manila folder. “For that scrap contact you were gonna chase.”
“Cheers.” He grabbed it, kissing Robert on the cheek as he did.
“Can’t wait to see that on.” Robert winked, gesturing towards the suit bag.
“You’ve seen me in a suit before, Rob.”
“Not for a while.” Robert reminisced. “Not since you were saying I-dos with my brother.”
Aaron winced. He thought of the beige suit he'd worn as he turned his back on Robert. He'd burnt it along with everything John related months ago, but he knew he could never touch a light-coloured suit again.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t start that again. You've got nothing to be sorry for except looking really fit that day. Let’s just make some new memories, eh?” Robert grinned.
--
“So, you’re sure that’s what you heard. Date?” Liam pressed.
“I know what I heard, Liam!” Chas assured.
She and Liam were parked surreptitiously up the road from the Mill, ready to catch Robert heading out to his illicit rendezvous.
“Right, just trying to get the facts straight.” Chas scowled at him, who was a little too excited about being asked to join her in a stake-out. “Maybe he meant it in a playful way. If he’s really just meeting clients, it could’ve been an inside joke or something.”
“Liam, I know what I heard. And I know him.”
Liam looked at her solemnly. “It’s just…miserable, isn’t it? Aaron spent so long wanting him back, and then he does this.” Liam shook his head gravely, “Truly despicable.”
She glared at him — she was never completely sure when Liam was being facetious or not.
Liam jumped up. “He’s leaving, look!” He pointed to a figure exiting the Mill and started peering through a pair of binoculars that Chas didn’t notice he'd brought. “It’s Robert.”
“I can see that love, he’s down the blimin’ street, not on Mars.” Chas squinted at the small blur of Robert in the distance. Maybe binoculars weren’t such a terrible idea. “Give me those things.” She snatched the binoculars and peered through them herself — she saw Robert in all his slippery glory now. He had a suit on, something she hadn’t seen him in since he got sent down. It wasn’t as smart as the ones he used to wear, and the tie was loose around his neck. She fantasised for a second about lynching him with it.
“They’re great for stargazing,” Liam commented, pointing to the binoculars.
“He’s getting in his car,” Chas noted. Aaron was nowhere to be seen, presumably already on his errand run. “He’s on the move. Start the car.” Liam turned the ignition obediently as Chas chucked the binoculars into the backseat. “Don’t let him out of your sight.
--
The hotel was fancy, with high ceilings and ugly modern art adorning the walls. Aaron adjusted his tie as he waltzed up to the reception, feeling a wave of déjà vu.
“Booking for Jon Snow,” Aaron told the receptionist, who gave him a subtle double-take. Robert had insisted on using that stupid name for old time's sake, even though nobody bloody watched Game of Thrones anymore. “Anyone else joining you?” She grinned knowingly - knowing exactly what a fake name meant.
Aaron smiled. “My fiancé, but I’ll be meeting him.”
She nodded and slid him two key cards. “Well, I hope you and your fiancé enjoy your stay," she said, winking at the word fiancé.
Aaron thanked her and couldn’t help but laugh to himself afterwards.
Aaron got himself a drink at the bar, slouching over a stool, waiting for Robert to arrive.
Robert arrived at the bar 10 minutes later. He looked so good. The vintage navy suit that Aaron had gotten Robert from an op-shop the day before somehow fit him perfectly, and the tie he’d borrowed from Aaron hung loosely around his neck. Something about Robert Sugden looking a bit scruffy in a suit felt deeply scandalous — he hadn’t even done up his top button.
Aaron couldn’t help but stare, and he didn't care how it looked to those around them. Robert settled into a stool two seats away from Aaron and summoned the bartender. He kept his head forward, pretending not to have noticed his fiancé down the bar.
What if Robert really was a stranger? Would he be sitting alone in a hotel bar, almost 40 in someone else's clothes? Or he would still be married to Chrissie, still the golden boy of White Interprises? Sometimes it struck Aaron just how much influence he had had over Robert's life. Hell, Robert would've still been sitting in a prison cell if it weren't for Robert's unwavering desire for him.
Aaron shook himself out of his deep Robert-related thoughts as he watched the man in question take a slow sip of whiskey. Aaron watched as the liquid slid down his throat and the condensation of the cool glass dampened his fingertips.
“You alright?” Aaron nodded towards Robert. The Stranger. The man looked over at Aaron and gave him a long, deliberate once-over. His eyes were dragging over Aaron so carefully that it made him squirm.
“Better now I’ve met you.” The stranger winked and slid off his barstool. He pushed his drink down the bar as he inched closer to Aaron. “Mind if I join you?” The man gestured to the empty seat beside him.
“If ya like.” Aaron shrugged nonchalantly. The stranger slipped into the seat, knocking his knees with Aaron as he did.
“What’s a gorgeous man like you doing here alone?” The stranger pried.
Aaron restrained the urge to roll his eyes. “Got off work early. Came for a drink.” He pointed to his pint. The stranger smirked and grabbed Aaron's drink, taking a small sip.
“Hmm, German?”
“Help yourself, why don’t ya?” Aaron laughed. “You have to let me try yours, now.” He purred as he reached over to the other man’s glass.
Aaron looked directly at him as he took a long sip, not flinching at the burn of the liquid on his tongue. “Not bad. You might have some sense of taste.”
“Hm, I think I might.” The stranger hummed as he glanced at Aaron's lips.
Aaron leaned over to grab the other man’s thigh. He squeezed slowly, feeling the rough cotton.
“You’re certainly helping yourself there.” The stranger smirked, resting a hand on Aaron’s wrist, tracing circles over his skin. Aaron trailed his fingers higher and further inwards.
The stranger took in a sharp breath. “Like what you see?” He whispered, breath speeding up.
Aaron hummed and leaned over to the man’s ear. “Want to take this upstairs?”
The stranger’s eyes dilated as he downed the rest of his whiskey.
--
Chas and Liam had tailed Robert all the way to Leeds and were now looking lost in the fancy hotel lobby. They'd just spotted Robert heading into the hotel bar.
“I’ll do some reconnaissance. Stay here.” Liam said, and before Chas could stop him, he’d slinked away.
Chas sat by herself on one of the big poncy couches and pretended to admire the artwork as she waited for Liam to come back. She couldn't believe Robert. To go to all this effort for a disgusting affair, her son left blissfully unaware of his debauchery. She wondered if Robert went to this much effort when Aaron was the other woman, but she was already pretty sure of the answer. She wasn't going to let him get away with it - not this time.
Mr Shifty had no idea what was coming.
After several minutes, Liam finally returned with a serious look on his face.
“Well?” She demanded.
“He was sitting at the bar. Drinking whiskey—" Liam looked down at his notepad. Of course, he brought a notepad. “Scotch.”
“I don’t care what he was drinking, Liam!” Chas tapped her foot.
“Right, so he started snuggling up to someone.”
Chas lifted her eyebrow.
“I was stealthily hidden behind a rather large pot plant so I couldn’t get a good look, but it was a man. And he was clearly very interested.”
“Anything else?” Chas asked impatiently. Liam glanced at his notepad. “Give me that,” Chas snapped, ripping it out of his hands.
Suspect: Male, late 20s-early 30s. Black Suit. Drinking a pilsner.
Lewdly sipping each other’s drinks
Her blood boiled. This random man was ruining her son’s life. No, it was Robert doing the ruining, she corrected.
She looked over her shoulder and spotted a mop of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye.
“Liam!” She hissed, dragging him out of sight into the corner of the room. Panicked, she pulled him into a hug, hiding her face in his chest. Their bodies were turned away, and Chas prayed it was enough to go unnoticed.
“You haven't even told me about yourself.” Chas heard from across the room. It was Robert’s disgustingly smug voice. She couldn’t hear a reply, only the ping of the elevator. She peered out to watch Robert disappear into the lift, his beau already out of sight. Robert was definitely meeting someone new, someone who he hadn't even bothered to get to know before climbing into bed with them.
“Ok, Liam.” She pushed away from him and brushed herself down. “We’ve got to follow them.”
“Um, Chas, do you think that’s really a wise—”
“He’s cheating on my son Liam! I need to confront him.”
“Shouldn't it be Aaron doing the confronting? Why don’t you ring Aaron and tell him to come here?”
“It’ll break his heart, Liam.”
“I know.” Liam brought Chas into a hug – a real one this time.
She sighed and pulled out her phone. “Go to the front desk and ask for the room number for Jon Snow.”
“Jon Snow?”
“Just do it,” Chas said shortly, before Liam could trap her in a ramble about his opinions of the ending of Game of Thrones. She glanced down at Aaron’s number. He deserved to know. She dialled.
It rang for a while before Aaron finally picked up.
“Mum, I can’t really talk right now.”
“Aaron, love, there’s something...” Chas took a deep breath.
“Can we talk later? I’ve just—" There was a voice somewhere in the background, and Aaron shushed them.
“Where are you?” Chas pried, wanting to know if he was in the best place to hear this kind of news. “Thought you had errands to run?”
“Finished them. I’m out getting a drink, like I said I would. Just bumped into someone.”
Chas narrowed her eyes and thought about Robert. Maybe a night out was exactly what her son needed right now. One last night of happiness before he had his heart broken by Robert Sugden yet again.
The voice behind Aaron piped up again; this time, Chas could make out a ‘Hello, sir, what can I get you?’ in a clipped southern accent. “Gotta go, mum, I’m, uh, being served,” Aaron dryly grunted before abruptly hanging up.
That was odd, Chas thought.
--
“You’re really annoying, you. What if she had heard ya?”
“What’s wrong, sir? Is the service not to your liking?” Robert continued in his annoying fake posh voice.
“Having fun, are we?” Aaron scolded, pulling Robert further down the hotel hallway.
Robert nodded enthusiastically like a toddler. “I will be when I get you out of that suit.”
“Thought you wanted me to keep it on.”
Robert smirked.
--
Robert pinned Aaron down on the mattress, their blazers and ties discarded on the floor beside them.
“Get the stuff,” Aaron whined, reluctantly pushing Robert off him to get some lube. Robert padded over, discarding his shirt as he did. He rifled through the duffel bag Aaron had packed.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Robert said while dangling a pair of handcuffs between his fingers.
Aaron forgot he packed those — but he wasn't regretting it.
Robert chucked the handcuffs over to the bed along with a bottle of lube. Robert climbed back onto the bed and quickly straddled Aaron. He reached back for the handcuffs.
“You’re gonna restrain me? We’ve only known each other 20 minutes.”
“Don’t even know my name, do you?” Robert mused, waving the handcuffs around, waiting for the go-ahead from Aaron.
“Go on then.” That was all Robert needed to hear.
Robert grabbed Aaron’s wrists and led them to the slatted headboard of the bed. He looped the handcuffs through a panel of wood and locked Aaron’s wrists in them gently, painting them with soft kisses as he did.
“How do you want it?” Aaron asked as Robert straddled his hips.
Robert leaned close to Aaron’s ear, saying, “Wanna ride you, ” before kissing Aaron’s ear.
“Fuck.” Aaron grunted. He felt like his dick was going to explode. “You’re in charge then.”
Robert stripped off Aaron’s trousers, leaving him in only his white dress shirt.
--
Room 1406. It had taken the better part of 40 minutes for Chas and Liam to locate the room after Liam had taken them to the wrong floor, then taken a wrong turn, and led them to circle the entire hotel floor twice.
Chas’s stomach was churning. She knew exactly what she was going to find, but she still didn’t want to. It wasn’t the walking in on Robert in the middle of the throes of passion part that unnerved her- she’d walked in on him and Aaron enough times she could pick out his rear end in a lineup. She was more worried about the irrevocable damage this would do to her son. She wished he’d never met Robert. She wished he’d just stayed locked up.
She considered her options. She could knock gently and pretend to be housekeeping at 8 pm, or she could start yelling - bring all hell down on Robert, the way he deserved. It wasn’t hard to pick her favourite option.
She looked back up to Liam. “You don’t have to do this with me,” Chas muttered, pulling in Liam by his arm.
He shook his head. “And leave right when we’re about to catch the crook? Wouldn’t dream of it.” He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “We’ll get Aaron through this.”
Chas smiled. She turned to the door and brought her knuckles up to the laminate wood.
--
Robert slumped over Aaron, panting deeply as he traced his fingers up and down Aaron’s thighs.
“Fuck that was good,” Aaron grunted as Robert pulled off him. “We should do this more often.”
They laughed together for a moment in agreement. Calm before the storm.
“ROBERT JACOB SUGDEN, I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE.”
Robert jolted up. It was Chas. She gave the door a couple more stern knocks. Aaron looked over at Robert, his face turning white as a sheet.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Robert blurted.
“Never mind that — get me out of these!” Aaron spat as Robert clambered down to the duffel bag on the floor. He found the key and fiddled with the lock on one of Aaron’s wrists.
“Hurry up!” Aaron hissed, impatiently pulling at the cuffs.
Robert fiddled with the key until Aaron could free himself from the headboard. Aaron still had one cuff attached to his other wrist, so Robert shoved the key into Aaron’s hand before stumbling over to their shared bag to grab some clothes.
Aaron frantically tried to get the other cuff undone, but another series of bangs on the door sent another wave of panic through his body, and his hands grew increasingly sweaty. He almost had the key turned when it jammed. Aaron tugged at it a little too aggressively, and the tiny scrap of metal went flying out of his hands. Aaron desperately scanned the bed and the surrounding floor, but it was nowhere to be seen.
“Shit. Robert, I dropped it.”
“Dropped what?”
“The fucking key!”
Robert looked quizzically at Aaron. “But you’re free.”
“Not completely!” He held up his left arm, shaking it aggressively to make his point. “I am not facing my mother with handcuffs!” Aaron glanced down at his ruined white button-up shirt Robert had insisted he keep on. It had an obvious sticky patch on the front courtesy of Robert. “Or a cum-stained shirt, Robert!”
“Just hide your hand behind your back,” Robert offered unhelpfully.
Aaron glanced around the room for the key again, but the insistent banging on the door made it hard to concentrate.
His mother couldn’t see this. He’d lied to her, and now he was facing the consequences. He probably should’ve gone and found a pair of pants or taken a deep breath and realised that his mother couldn’t come in if they didn’t let her in, but instead he focused on the small closet on the other side of the room.
“I’m hiding in the closet.”
“What?”
Another series of loud bangs reverberated around the room. “OPEN THIS DOOR BEFORE I BREAK IT DOWN.”
Fuck it, Aaron was committing to hiding in the closet. “Answer her, you idiot!” Aaron hissed as he dragged the flimsy door closed behind him.
“She’s gonna find you!”
“Just open it, Robert!”
Aaron immediately regretted his decision. He listened as he heard Robert opening the door.
--
The door flew open.
Robert was a mess. He was standing in his boxers and a black t-shirt. Aaron’s brand new shirt. Chas gritted her teeth.
“You have some explaining to do.” She snarled, emphasising every word.
“Chas? What are you-" Robert started before she shoved past him.
“Where is he?” Chas leered around the room like a sniffer dog.
“Where’s who?” Robert scoffed in his ‘who me?’ voice. He was good, she had to admit, but not good enough.
There were clothes strewn around the room. She looked down at a black blazer at her feet. It was not Robert’s. She shot him daggers.
“Don’t play dumb, Robert. I know you’re here with someone.”
“Someone?!” Robert laughed awkwardly.
“Yes. Men like you never change.”
“Chas — please,” Robert begged, his mood had shifted from when he first let her in – or rather when she’d bulldozed herself in.
“Chas,” Liam said in the middle of the chaos. She ignored him as she was too busy checking under the bed. She found a pair of black trousers and a belt - clues that only made her rage intensify.
“Chas,” Liam repeated, in the same monotone way. She looked up. Liam was pointing towards the closet.
Chas narrowed her gaze. Of course. There that bastard was.
“Chas, please. Just – we’ll talk later, just don’t—" Robert pleaded, but it was too late. She dragged the closet door open.
She was finally face-to-face with Robert’s bit on the side. A bit on the side who looked an awful lot like her son.
Aaron stared back at her. He was wearing a white dress shirt and nothing else. A set of handcuffs was dangling from one of his wrists, and as he pulled the shirt down as far as possible, it exposed a large, wet patch on his front.
“Oh my god,” Chas whispered gravely.
“Hi, Mum.” Aaron grimaced as he tried to pull the closet door shut again. “Nice chat.”
“What on earth?” Chas looked back and forth between her son and Robert as the realisation hit her. “You two are disgusting.” She shivered and stepped away from the closet.
Liam was busy pretending to inspect the ceiling. “I fear we might’ve had the wrong picture.”
Robert glared at him. “You think?”
Chas covered her eyes. “For god’s sake, Aaron, put some pants on.”
Her son didn’t waste time in his walk of shame from the closet. By the time Chas looked again, Aaron had managed to put on a pair of pants and had tried to remove the white shirt, but the cuff was caught on his wrist, snagging on the metal. She watched as her son grew increasingly frustrated by it.
“Fucking thing,” Aaron mumbled.
“Undo button the—" Robert offered as he grabbed Aaron’s wrist.
Aaron battered his arm away, "I've got it!" He hissed as he continued to fumble with it. It was painful to watch.
"For god's sake!" Chas stomped over and grabbed her son's wrist and swiftly undid the shirt-cuff button, finally setting his hand free from the shirt. Aaron looked away, embarrassed they way he used to as a child.
“Would now be a poor time for a coming out of the closet joke?” Robert asked while grabbing a t-shirt for Aaron.
“Yes.” Aaron spat bitterly as he snatched the dark blue shirt from Robert’s hand and clumsily pulled it on around his newfound bracelet.
“I thought you were cheating.” She pointed accusingly at Robert before turning the finger on her son. “And you lied to me. I thought you were out having fun!”
“Well, to be fair, Chas – I think he was before we arrived,” Liam interjected.
She shot him a warning look before turning back to Robert and her son. They were both bright red. “Just. Why all the secrecy, Aaron? Why would I care if you were meeting Robert at a hotel?”
Aaron shrugged. “Because. That was…” He hung his head in shame as he winced, “Part of it.”
Chas turned her gaze away from her son and took a deep breath. She immediately regretted that as the air stunk of sweat and sex. “Revolting.” She thought back to how they’d arrived separately. Met at the bar. “Were you two – never mind, I don’t want to know.
“Oi, I never give you grief for the weird stuff you and Liam do! With your murder mystery parties — only 85-year-old grannies get off on that!” Aaron sneered.
“Murder mystery parties are a perfectly respectable form of non-sexual roleplay, Aaron.” Liam huffed, deeply insulted. “The only purpose of handcuffs in that context is to catch the culprit. Unlike your little den of lechery.” He took a step forward to continue to berate Aaron’s prejudiced opinions on his choice of interactive party game when he glanced down at the floor.
“Ah-ha!” He gloated as he picked up his prize. Liam was clutching a small key. “Lost something?” Liam confidently offered the key to Aaron. “You know, you really should keep better track of this. Don’t want to get caught in any...compromising positions.” Liam smirked in a way that almost made Chas swoon. Almost.
Aaron snatched the key from him, and for a moment, it looked like he was going to spit in his face. Liam took a step back before he could receive any of that hospitality.
“Wouldn’t have to, Sherlock, if little-Miss Busy-Body here didn’t stalk us.” Aaron glared at his mother as he finally freed himself from the cuffs. He chucked them into a bag that, unfortunately, had other damning sex paraphernalia peeking out. Chas knew gay men needed additional supplies, but she really didn’t think they needed 5 separate bottles of differently flavoured lubricant. She decided that must’ve been Robert’s influence and shuddered.
“I was just trying to look out for you, love.” Chas reiterated, now able to meet Aaron’s eye.
“No, you were just trying to make an excuse to hate Robert again, and I’m sick of it.” Aaron stood back up. “You’ve done nothing but interfere ever since I first got with him!”
“That’s because you two were sleeping together behind his wife’s back!" Chas really thought she shouldn't need to spell that out to him. "Have you forgotten Katie?"
“Katie?” Liam asked innocently. Chas forgot she hadn’t fully filled Liam in on the life and crimes of her son’s ex-husband-fiancé.
“Why do you have to bring that up every time you think he’s done something bad? You two were buddy-buddy when we were married – you can’t pretend you’ve always hated him!"
“Because he hurt you! He went to prison and left ya, and I saw how hurt you were. How much it killed you and I — I can’t watch you go through that again.”
Aaron sighed. “Look, Mum,” His voice had softened. “That’s up to me, isn’t it?”
“He’s right, Chas,” Liam said gently beside her.
“What about Kev? That wasn’t too long ago.” Chas insisted.
Aaron rolled his eyes like she hadn't been there cleaning up the pieces.
"Well that wasn't..." Liam chimed in. He cleared his throat, “Look, Rob – can I call you Rob?”
“No.” Robert replied shortly.
“Robert – gotcha. Well, Robert and Kev’s relationship wasn’t exactly balanced, Chas.” Liam started, the others all looking at him like he’d grown a second head. “I actually saw quite a bit of Kev remember.” Robert went to scoff, but Liam continued. “He’d lied to Robert almost constantly. Kev all but threatened to kill me if I ever told Robert he wasn’t dying. It was a borderline abusive relationship, Chas.”
Robert sputtered a laugh. “What’s he on about?”
Liam and the Dingles looked solemnly at Robert for a moment.
"Robert's sham of a prison marriage aside," she turned back to her son. “I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”
Aaron rubbed his face. “Well, that’s gonna happen whether you like it or not. I’ve been hurting my whole life, Mum.” Aaron glanced at Robert. “But even after everything, I would still do it all over again if it meant I'd end up with this headcase.”
“Always a romantic, you,” Robert muttered, smiling softly at Aaron.
"Well, isn't that sweet?" Liam awed. Aaron glared at the doctor threateningly.
He was right. Chas hated it, but her son was right. “Sorry for ruining your night, boys.” Chas finally caved. “But remember Sugden – thin ice.” She held up her thumb and forefinger, almost pinching them together. “One wrong move and—"
“I’ll have to deal with the wrath of Chas Dingle, I know,” Robert smirked. “Not my first rodeo.”
“We’ll see ourselves out, C’mon, Liam.”
“Yes, I think that would be best.” Liam agreed, already halfway out of the room.
“Mum, wait. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s ok, love. It’s on me. You were just having consensual, weird sex with your…your Robert.” Chas sighed. “Sorry for ruining it, love.” She grimaced before patting him awkwardly on the shoulder.
Chas pulled Liam through the door and slammed it behind her. She glanced sheepishly over at him. Through the door, they could hear Robert burst into laughter.
‘It’s not funny, you idiot!’ Aaron yelled back. Robert grunted as he was hit with what they assumed was a pillow. “That was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever experienced, and you're laughing? You won't be when I—”
Chas never tried to catch Robert in the act again.