Robert gets locked in the portacabin on a below freezing night while aaron is out for the night with Matty and co. xoxo
(Why must you torture my poor boy so?!)
Man vs door (AO3)
“Are you sure you don’t want to come along?” Aaron asks for the tenth time in as many minutes.
Robert sighs and switches the phone to his other ear.
“No, I’m going to stay here and finish the paperwork for that new client, and then I’m going home to take a long, hot shower.” He leans back in his chair and stretches. “This cold is in my bones. We need to buy another space heater for the cabin if we’re going to survive this winter. This thing barely does anything.”
Aaron laughs and Robert hears some yelling in the background.
“I think they’re waiting for you.”
“They can wait a bit longer.”
“Go. Have fun. Tell Matty congrats from me. I’ll be fine.” Robert insists.
“Alright… But next time you’re coming with. I don’t care how much work you’ll have on or how many clients you need to charm…”
“Next time I’ll come with and I’ll even get you to dance with me.”
“Is that a promise or a threat?”
Robert laughs now
“Both. Now go get hammered with Adam and Matty and I’ll be the one making you hangover food in the morning.”
“Best boyfriend ever.”
“I try.” Robert says, still feeling his heart skip a beat whenever Aaron calls him his boyfriend. “Now go. Don’t keep them waiting.”
“Ok, ok, I’m going…” Aaron says but Robert knows he’s making no move to end the call.
He hears someone (Adam maybe?) yell Aaron’s name and telling him to get a move on.
“Alright! I’m coming!” Aaron replies then turns back to the phonecall. “I won’t be back too late, I promise.”
“Don’t think about that. Just have fun.” Robert stresses.
“Next weekend we’re spending the entire weekend in bed.”
“Sounds good to me. Now go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah alright. See you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Robert says and they end the call. He stretches again and gets up to make himself some tea. He stares out the window waiting for the kettle to boil and shivers. The weather has been horrendous for days, with talks of snow getting stronger every hour.
Even though he’s not really a clubbing kind of guy, he would’ve liked to have gone with Aaron and the rest. Just to spend some time with his boyfriend. He’s been working a lot lately, just to make Home James the success he knows it can be… and to save up enough money to leave cold and damp Yorkshire behind for a week or two and enjoy some sea, sand, sun, and most of all Aaron.
They have their own flat in the village but between the Dingles and Robert’s own family, they rarely get some peace and quiet. And some things, you just don’t want an audience for.
Things like asking your boyfriend to marry you.
Robert allows himself to daydream for a bit about getting down on one knee in the warm sand of a tropical beach, and giving Aaron the ring that’s been hidden at the back of his desk drawer for weeks. And the two of them celebrating by sipping fruity cocktails while the sun sets over the ocean.
He laughs to himself. Like Aaron will ever drink anything other than his usual lager.
The kettle finishes boiling and he makes himself a cuppa, warming his hands on the warm mug rather than drinking it.
“Alright. Focus.” he tells himself “Just another hour and it’s done.”
Only one hour turns into two and a half. Then three. Then three and a half. Robert’s eyes are stinging and he presses the heels of his hands into them. He glances at the time on his computer and notices it’s almost 1am.
He’s cold. He put on Aaron’s big winter coat, that he left in the cabin, about an hour ago, and moved the space heater to right beside his desk, but neither of those things are really helping anymore. And also his bladder is protesting at the many cups of tea he’s had to try stay warm.
He decides to call it a night and hopes Aaron will be home soon so he can snuggle up to him. That long hot shower can wait until morning.
He saves his work and shuts down his computer, and takes a minute to gather the rest of his things as well as make sure everything is unplugged and switched off.
He grabs his keys and bag, zips Aaron’s coat up a little higher and braces himself for the cold night air. Only the door doesn’t open.
“What the hell?” Robert mutters under his breath as he’s pushing and pulling on the handle. “Is it locked? It can’t be, can it? Did I lock it?”
He puts his key in the lock and tries to turn it but it doesn’t move. He checks and re-checks that he has the right key, but no matter what he tries, the door doesn’t open.
“What the fuck?” He says to himself and tries to look out the window to see if something might be blocking the door. He doesn’t have a clear view of the other side of the door, but the part he can see is clear.
“What’s going on?” he tries yanking on the door again to no avail and tries breaking it down like he’s seen people on TV do.
The door doesn’t open and he’s left with a sore shoulder.
He sits down at his desk again and pulls his phone out, happy to see it’s still on 32%.
He scrolls through his contacts, looking for someone to call to help him. The most logical choice would be Aaron but he doesn’t want to pull him away from his celebrations. And it would take ages for him to get there anyway.
Vic is his next option but he doesn’t want to give his sister a heart attack by calling her in the middle of the night.
Diane is out of the question too and so are the Kings. He doesn’t want to risk waking up their kids.
Just as he’s about to dial 999 and go through the embarrassment of having the fire department free him, his phone rings. Aaron.
“Hey.” he answers, trying to sound as normal as possible. “How’s your night going?”
“‘Salright. We went to bar west. For a bit. Adam’s idea.” Aaron says and Robert can tell he’s had a few too many.
“Really? I didn’t know Adam liked gay bars.”
“It’s the only place he can pull and doesn’t have to pay for his drinks! The barman has low standards.” Aaron says and laughs at his own joke, then turns serious. “I kissed someone. Someone… not you.”
“You what? Why?”
“Wait. No. He kissed me.” Aaron corrects himself. “He was a prat.”
“Right. And he kissed you?”
“Yes. We were just having a drink and then he just went for it.” Aaron explains and Robert lets him ramble for a minute while his heart rate returns to normal.
“Where are you now?” he interrupts.
“Uh… Wait. I’ll find out.” Aaron says and Robert hears some rustling and what he thinks is Matty asking someone where they are.
“About ten minutes from Emmerdale, mate. You’re not going to be sick are you? If you’re sick in my taxi, you’re cleaning it up yourself.”
“We’re fine!” Matty says a little too loudly. “Aaron just wants to get home to his loverrrr.” He says, rolling the r and giggling.
“We’re ten minutes from Emmerdale.” Aaron tells Robert, like he hasn’t just heard every word. “Are you home? I missed you. I miss your smile. And your eyes. And your voice. And your lips. And your hands. And your fingers. And your arse. And your d- ”
“WHOAH! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THAT!” Robert hears Adam yell and for once he’s grateful for him. As much as he loves Aaron telling him those things, he doesn’t want it to be when he’s locked in at work and can’t do anything about it.
“I miss you too.” Robert settles on eventually. “I’m uh… I’m actually still at the scrapyard. Fancy coming to pick me up? We can walk home together.”
“Good idea!” Aaron exclaims like Robert just told him he discovered the next world wonder. He seems to forget about the conversation then and Robert hears him directing the taxi to the scrapyard.
“Are you sure, mate? I don’t want to leave you in the middle of nowhere to freeze to death trying to find your house.” the taxi driver says to Aaron.
“No. My boyfriend is there. He’s going to walk me home. He’s been working all night.”
“Right. And you’re sure it’s here? It says private property on the sign.”
“Yes!” Aaron says happily. “That’s my sign! I’m private! I mean… uh… this is mine. Look!” he jangles his keys.
“Right. Well… it’s your funeral.”
Robert ends the call when he sees a pair of headlights turning onto the scrapyard and Aaron, Adam, and Matty all but falling out of the car, minutes later.
“Hey! Robert!” Adam yells when he spots Robert standing in front of the window next to the door and walks up to him.
“Hey…” He replies and tries to get Aaron’s attention, who seems to be in the middle of a discussion with the taxi driver.
“Aren’t you coming out, mate?” Adam asks. “Again.” he says and giggles. “Because you’re bi, aren’t you? So you’ve already come out.”
“Yeah, yeah… Get Aaron for me please?”
“Aaron!” Adam bellows, probably waking up half the village in the process. “Your man wants you!”
Aaron looks up and smiles happily when he sees Robert.
“Rob! You’re still here!”
“Yeah. I told you I was, didn’t I?” Robert says, secretly amused by his drunk boyfriend. “Listen, I’ve got a bit of a problem and I need you to help me.”
Aaron frowns and comes closer to the portacabin.
“Why?”
“The door won’t open. I’m locked in.”
“What? How?”
“I don’t know. But I’ve tried everything and it won’t open. Maybe it’s frozen shut?”
Aaron examines the door.
“There’s no ice on it.”
“Right. Well it’s still stuck somehow.”
“You could climb through the window.” Matty suggests.
“I’ll never fit through this tiny window Matty.” Robert snaps and Matty puffs and rolls his eyes at him.
“Maybe you should leave him in there, Aaron.”
Aaron ignores him and tries to put his key in the lock.
“You know what, I’ll just call 999.” Robert says and gets his phone out.
“Wait!” Aaron says and punches the air in triumph when he gets the key in the lock. He turns the key without any trouble, wiggles it a bit, pulls on the door a bit, and the door opens and he steps inside. “Problem solved!” He announces happily.
“What? How is that possible?” Robert asks, grabbing Aaron’s keys and comparing them to his own. “They’re the same.”
“Of course they are.” Aaron says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world and steps closer to Robert. “So now you’re free…” He trails off. “Wanna get out of here?” He wraps his arms around him. “You’re all cold.”
“Yeah this place is freezing at night. That heater you bought won’t even keep our kitchen cabinet warm.”
Aaron frowns.
“Why would we need a warm kitchen cabinet?”
Robert sighs, shakes his head, and can’t help himself and presses a kiss to Aaron’s lips.
“Never mind. Let’s go home.”
He grabs his bag and his and Aaron’s keys and pulls the door shut behind him.
“We’re getting those locks replaced first thing.” He says as he wraps an arm around Aaron’s shoulders, while Aaron’s comes up around his waist almost automatically.
Aaron nods.
“But you’re still making me breakfast.”
