robron + 28 💜
Aaron feels Robert’s hands on his waist before he sees him, unable to keep the affection out of his voice as he tries to chastise his newly-minted husband.
“You’re drunk,” he accused, which is overselling it, Aaron knows. Robert had delightedly indulged in the champagne offered to them over dinner, and had made one of those silly, pleading, doe-eyed looks at Aaron when he’d clocked the cocktail menu and decided he needed a margarita, stat, and so Aaron had bought him two, because he was nice like that.
Robert looked genuinely happy, as he pulled Aaron closer by the waist, the ruddy flush to his cheeks testament to how happy his husband really was.
“I’m happy,” Robert corrected, tie mostly undone, the top two buttons of his shirt having already fallen victim to Aaron’s wandering hands. He looked gorgeous. Robert always looked gorgeous, but Robert in a suit was a rare treat these days, and so Aaron had happily drank in the view of Robert in his new, dark navy suit.
He’d chosen one with a pinstripe, this time, an unusual choice for Robert, but he’d claimed it had made him look more distinguished, and Aaron didn’t disagree.
Aaron had stuck to a simpler navy suit himself, and as he caught a glimpse of the two of them in the mirror of the hotel lift, Aaron couldn’t help but think what a perfect match the two of them made.
“We look good,” Aaron brushed his nose against Robert’s, nudging him to look in the mirror.
“We do,” Robert agreed, but he seemed entirely reluctant to take his eyes off of Aaron, his glance in the mirror a quick one. “I love you, you know.”
“I know,” Aaron hummed, letting his husband crowd him against the wall of the lift, the kiss Robert pressed to his lips an overly indulgent one, given anyone could walk into the lift as it made it’s slow ascent upwards. “I love you too.”
“I’m so glad we did it like this - getting married, just the two of us,” Robert admitted, melting into Aaron’s touch.
“Me too,” Aaron agreed. His mum, Vic, the family - they had all been asking for months, and months about when the wedding was, and what their plan was, and neither of them had felt entirely willing to commit.
As much as they’d wanted to get married, it was hard to imagine having another wedding day without Liv there, without Seb there. They’d had their fair share of weddings - it was the marriage bit, that mattered to them now.
Funnily enough, Mackenzie had been the one to suggest they just elope. Funny, because Aaron knew how much Mack loved the thought of being Aaron’s best man - but then again, maybe it was a mark of just how well Mackenzie knew him.
He’d sparked the idea, though, and a few weeks later, the two of them had found themselves in the registry office in Manchester, with a night in The Lowry paid for by Mackenzie and Vic. They’d had two strangers, as their witnesses, and it had been quiet, and understated, and absolutely perfect.
The only photographic evidence they had of them getting married again was a selfie taken outside of the registry office, new wedding rings on show.
Aaron allowed Robert to tug him down the hallway toward their suite, relishing in the warm familiarity of Robert’s hand in his own.
There had been long, lonely years where Aaron had been sure that he would never get to have this - Robert Sugden wearing a ring on his finger that declared him as Aaron’s - again, yet somehow, against all odds, they were here, and Robert was pressing frenzied kisses to Aaron’s mouth, his cheeks, his neck.
“I love you,” Aaron beamed, and he could drown in the joy he was feeling, there and then. “Mr Dingle.”
Robert’s grin was a thousand watts, as he replied. “I love you, Mr Sugden.”
