Work Text:
Liv was just on her way back home after another ‘girls night’ as Gabby would call it. She was just walking past the graveyard when she saw something move. There was a figure sitting in front of a grave. Now paying more attention she could also hear somebody talking, ‘I know that voice’ she realized. When she walked through the night and kept taking steps towards the figure she could make out the words that were being said “I’m sorry I didn’t come by more often, I had a lot going on. But that’s no excuse I should’ve made time to come and see you.” She stopped on her way, where he couldn’t see her, she wanted to hear what else her brother would tell somebody dead.
“Have I told you about Liv? You would have loved her! A real mini-me, or so everybody keeps telling me. I met her the first time, when she was stealing from Robert. She’s living with us now, can’t imagine my life without her anymore. Losing Holly made all that so much clearer, and I wanna help Adam, but I have no idea what I can do to make it better…
He saved me after you, I don’t know if I’d still be alive if it weren’t for him, but I don’t have a clue what I can do. There is nothing anybody can do, I know that better than most.” His voice starts to fade and almost break, but after a few moments he continues. “You would have loved Liv, I hope your Mum can meet her someday, although… I don’t wanna have to figure out what those two can get up to together” He laughs to himself.
Finally she can’t take it anymore, she wants to know who her brother is telling all these things, and why he isn’t talking to her or Robert about all of this. Liv starts walking in Aaron’s direction but she doesn’t get far, he turns around when he hears branches cracking underneath her feet. “What are you doing here?” “Could ask you the same. I was on my way home and I saw you sitting here.” She explains, while walking towards him. As soon as she is close enough to read the name on the headstone everything becomes clear to her, of course, why didn’t she realize earlier?
“Can I get one?” she asks, pointing to the six pack of beer lying beside him in the grass before sitting down next to him. “Told you she’s like me, and no, you can’t.” He says chuckling to himself.
“How long have you been sitting here drinking on your own? Robert will be worried.”
“A while. He knows where I am if he needs me.”
“So you don’t plan on spending the night here?”
“No, those days are over.” She shoots him a questioning look. “After the funeral, when I came out of prison, I couldn’t take it, used to come up here and drink until I fell asleep next to him. Mum would come and wake me up in the morning, see if I’m still alive. How long have you been listening?”
“Since you started talking about me.” Aaron gave a light nod while focusing his eyes on the headstone. “Tell me what happened to him.”
“You googled me, you know what happened.”
“I wanna hear it from you.”
“Where do you want me to start?”
“At the beginning?” She smiled at him.
“Okay, then get settled in for a long story. I wasn’t out. When I first met him.
Robert started to get worried, it had been some time since Liv text him to say she was on her way home, and now she wasn’t answering any of his calls or texts. He didn’t want to disturb Aaron, he knows how long it’s been since the last time he talked to Jackson. Robert took his leather jacket off the sofa and left out the door. Outside he started shivering, he knew it became too cold for his leather jacket, but he just couldn’t say good-bye to it for this winter yet. He decided to walk the way Liv would usually take from Home Farm. On his way he can check on Aaron, he just hoped that nothing had happened to Liv. Ever since Holly the whole village was even more on edge.
Once he had the graveyard in sight he started to walk slower, maybe he could even hear some of the things Aaron tells Jackson, he stopped when he really could hear some mumbling, and he was even more surprised, when he could hear a girls voice interrupting the man. He walked a little closer, he’d knew that blonde hair everywhere. Thank god she was safe. He stood there a while longer, watching the two siblings talking like they hadn’t seen each other in weeks.
He turned around and started walking back to the pub. They’ll come home when they’re ready.
“After that he didn’t want to talk to me anymore, made sense. And then came the day I found out Marlon and my Mum knew, that was the day I tried to kill myself.” She looked at him with wide eyes. “I’m okay, now, I’m never going to try something like that again, okay? I’m good.” She gave him a light nod.
“Go on.”
“Adam found me and got me to a hospital before anything worse could happen, I was in a coma for a few days, but eventually I woke up. And then came the trial, everybody kept telling me to come out and explain why I had hit him, but I didn’t have none of it, I was just gonna plead guilty and take on a few months in prison before telling anybody I’m gay. In court… something changed, I saw Jackson in the gallery and suddenly, something was different. And I told them why I did it, I came out. That was the first time I made it to the front page of the local newspaper.” Almost whispering he added “It wouldn’t be the last time.”
“Some time after that we got together and then the accident happened. Do I have to tell you everything again?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine ever having to do something like that. It must have been so hard on you, did anybody know?”
“I don’t wish that pain on anybody, believe me. His mother and apart from that nobody. They figured out that he was saying good-bye the night before in the pub and they went even madder.”
“But, how did you survive? I wouldn’t be able to handle that, the grief and the accusations and the trial, how did you do that?”
“I almost didn’t survive, I couldn’t cope, not in the slightest, that’s where the scars came from. The pain helped, it made me forget for a while.” He looked up and saw her worried look. “Hey, look at me.” Her eyes met his. “I’m okay now, I have Robert and you, and my Mum, there is no reason for me to ever go to that dark place again, okay? Really, I’m good.” He pulled her in his arms, she held on so tight he thought she would never let him go again. They sat like this for a few minutes before releasing each other again.
“Is there anything else you want to know about?” She looked to the floor, where she was tearing up some grass. “Hey, what is it? You know you can tell me.”
“If you ever want to hurt yourself again” she paused “promise me, you’ll tell Robert or your Mum or me, don’t think you’re on your own.”
“I won’t have to tell him, he’ll know. He always knows.”
“Now, come on you, you got school tomorrow, and it’s starting to get real cold, let’s get you home.” He stood up and reached down for the empty beer cans lying around the grave. “Edna used to flip out every time she found empty beer cans near his grave.” He told her with a little smile on his face.
Just as they were about to leave Aaron stopped and lay one hand on the headstone, she could hear him whispering to Jackson “Take good care of her, she needs someone to look after her.”