But Aaron’s walls were supposed to be up. They were supposed to be SO UP that he couldn’t even stand there and look at Robert as he was leaving, he had to go distract himself by grabbing a beer. Yet there he is, in the portacabin scene, and even before he really notices anything, you can tell that his walls are not so up. He seems a little surprised to see Rob there at that moment, but still feels he needs to offer something by way of communication, even if it’s just the promise he’ll be gone in a sec. He takes the time to look at Robert and process what’s going on with him even though he’s supposed to not give a bit of a damn. Once he got what he came in for (and the surprise has dissipated a bit), the whole way he looks at Rob is softer, more open than it’s supposed to be. He feels something is off with Robert, but then HE is supposed to pay Robert little mind. Yet instead, he takes his time. “Right then” and nods and stands around, not about to leave like he said he would. When Rob recognizes Aaron looks knackered, Aaron’s “thanks” is just a little insulted. I mean, he shouldn’t care what his ex thinks about how he looks, right? Yet there he is anyway. Aaron doesn’t deny or tries to be dismissive of Rob’s assessment. Instead, he gives more details than we would expect from someone with his guard up. And from what he says, about having drunk too much (energy drinks, but still) you get that he must not have slept. Like I said, I think this was to show us a parallel between the two of them and it matters SO MUCH that Aaron connects this to Robert (through denial, but still) before Rob even says anything. Now give me a sec to scream a little about Rob, even in the middle of his scheming and wanting the intruder out of there so he could go on uncaught, even after how he was told off last week by everyone for caring about Aaron’s well being, even after that cost him the possibility of going with Aaron to the festival - - even after all this, his first instinct is to care and worry about Aaron, to not be able to cover it up even for a nanosecond. You beautiful, infuriating idiot in love. The absolutely horrified look on his face. How can anyone not love him? Back to Aaron. Still stalling. Looking to say something more. Not knowing what to. Reluctantly leaving. While saying ‘see you later’. Not something more finite, like bye (and let’s not forget, half the time, characters don’t even bother saying that when they leave), but the promise of more contact to come. So this whole scene SLAYED ME. Because Aaron’s defenses are not up. After giving the tickets back, after being upset that Robert has cost him Zak’s training and company, we would expect him to be MORE distant, yeah? But he’s not. And it’s not just the fact he senses something off with Robert, if you ask me. And not just that he’s still so freaking in love. I think that if this scene were to play out before his talks with Cain, we would see a much colder, more closed off Aaron. But they did talk and they did hang out with Debbie and Sarah, it did help Aaron and I think that moved something. Some recognition, however lowkey, that Robert doesn’t just still care about him, but that he’s still helping him. That he’s actively making things better for Aaron. That Robert still knows him best. That you can split from your soulmate, but you’re still gonna need him, even when you don’t want to. Sorry, kid. Them’s the true love rules. You can put your walls up, but don’t be surprised to find them down and yourself still caring when you can clearly see something is off with the man you love. And now? Now we’re set up for Aaron to find a pill and further care his ass off. (thank you @smittenwithsugden and @isabellaofparma for being so supportive and delightful! <3)