Chapter 20: The Fixer-Upper

He almost felt tempted to walk through the door and yell ‘honey, I’m home’, but somehow he wanted to take Aron by surprise. No such luck, though, as the guy was expecting him, his arms crossed over his chest and a stony look on his face.

“So, what do you want to tell me?” Aron spoke first.

“What? No smooches?” Carter opened his arms wide and walked towards Aron.

Apparently, the guy was not in the mood for his shenanigans.

“Where have you been and why did you turn off your phone?” Aron questioned him. “What if something happened to you? Do you have any idea how that would have made me feel?”

“I went to see David,” Carter said bluntly.

Aron’s face fell. It was like the guy was waiting for a verdict that he knew it wasn’t going to be in his favor.

“Why didn’t you tell me about him?” Carter questioned.

Great, now you really think you’re the husband. Aren’t you going too far with this charade?

I’m doing it for a good cause.

And the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Whatevs.

“Hey, I’m just asking,” he spoke softly and touched Aron’s arm.

The guy was looking at him, hesitating between panic and astonishment.

“Well, I talked to him, and just so you know, you don’t have to go there, at least not for that, you know to watch some guys doing whatever they are doing there. I mean, well, if you really can’t live without that,” Carter began his argumentation, “I cannot really keep you, but, if there is something you want us to try, be it that you like to be tied up, or, I don’t know, gagged, just tell me, and let’s just do it at home.”

Aron looked as if he needed to pick his jaw up from the floor.

“What? Do you think I cannot dominate you or something?” Carter frowned.

“I’m pretty certain you can do whatever you want with me because I thought you were going to say that you’re going to file for divorce now that you know about my friendship with David. Wait, how did you learn...”

“I figured it out,” Carter said quickly. “And there was a card you dropped from your pockets. From David’s club. So I went there, and talked to him.”

“That seems like quite the intuition,” Aron mumbled.

Aron was not going to buy that. He needed to act quickly.

“Hey, guess what I brought home from work,” he said brightly.

“Wait, we need to talk about David,” Aron stopped him.

Ah, damn, it wasn’t going to be simple.

“The guy says you’re just friends,” he spoke.

“And do you believe him?” Aron asked, his voice a tad strained.

“Yeah. He seems like a cool dude.”

Aron was blinking and looking at him like he could not believe he was hearing that.

“Why didn’t you just ask me about him?” Aron questioned. “Or it is just me you don’t believe?”

Fuck, fuck, the situation was getting out of hand. What would Alex do? Clearly, if he managed to stay married to Aron for two years, while cheating and breaking expensive vases and who knew what else, the guy had to have some tricks up his sleeve.

“I could always get bitchy and break something,” he stared at Aron and made his best impersonation of an angry husband, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning. “Really, you left home without saying where you’re going. Forgive me if I didn’t think you would be willing to share this kind of information.”

“I’ve been gone before, and you didn’t really care to find out where I was,” Aron said defensively. “You cared only about throwing tantrums and never letting me say a word. And forgive ME,” Aron mimicked his words from earlier, “if I found that leaving for a few days to be away from you seemed the only way to save this train wreck of a marriage.”

Carter stood there, stunned.

“Are we breaking up?” he murmured.

“No,” Aron scowled. “I still love you. I’m not letting you go that easy. But some things are hard to swallow, okay?”

Carter could feel a joke coming right up, but even his troll brain had to agree now was not the time for that.

“Okay,” he sighed.

Saving marriages was tiresome. He wasn’t envying those marriage counselors at all.

“You always say you’re sorry, but you still don’t listen,” Aron said bitterly.

“Well, I’m listening now. If you want to talk,” he hurried to add.

Aron was staring at him, his eyes swimming in hurt.

“David is just a friend. Yes, I went to his club, and watched some guys performing on a stage, okay? I didn’t fuck anyone,” Aron shook his head. “Have I ever felt tempted? God knows I have. But I am a married man, and I’m not going to make a joke out of our marriage. You’re faithful to me, I’m faithful to you. This is how it works.”

Ouch. Big, big ouch.

“So what does David think?” Carter found himself talking.

“I thought you talked to him,” Aron frowned again.

“Well, he seems like a busy man. I just wanted to know who he was. Now I know, and now I’m asking you about him. As I’m supposed to,” he added quickly.

In retrospect, he could have just asked Aron directly, but no, he had been way too determined to find out who David was on his own. What did that make him? A jealous husband, like Alex was, of course. Completely in character.

Aron didn’t look like he was buying that. But he continued to talk.

“David thinks I got the short end of the stick. He’s frank like that. Are you sure you want to hear this?” he looked at Carter.

“Whatever he thinks, he doesn’t think it anymore, I’m sure,” Carter shrugged. “I told him how we fucked like rabbits.”

Aron’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You did? I mean, you’re always so private about these things...”

“Well, he was calling me a frigid housewife. I had to put him in his place,” Carter explained.

“Wow,” a ghost of a smile lit up Aron’s face for a brief moment. “How did he react?”

“Surprised, and he also started talking about BDSM and stuff, like how I need to be trained or something. But forget about that,” Carter waved. “I want to hear more from you.”

“Okay,” Aron breathed deeply. “He is a strong-willed man and he has his theories. I told him he’s wrong and that he doesn’t know you,” he added in an apologetic tone.

“Stop mollycoddling me. Come on, shoot. What did he say about me?”

What did he say about us?

Shut up, brain, we’re not asking that. This is about Aron’s marriage.

Are we still lying to ourselves that we’re some goody two shoes?

Shut up already.

“He thinks you don’t love me,” Aron spoke and stared at Carter, waiting for a reaction. “Well, not as much as I love you, at least. He says you’re the kind of guy who only wants to be loved, without giving anything back. But I don’t think that. I think you’re insecure and that I should love you more until you don’t feel like that at all. It’s just that ... It gets hard sometimes. So I just go talk to David, and while he doesn’t approve of my attitude towards the whole thing, he listens, and that’s something I need. God knows why he’s doing this for me, though. I guess it’s not his idea of fun to hear me complaining about how I cannot manage to be a good enough husband for you.”

“He’s a good friend,” Carter supplied right away. “How did you two meet, by the way?”

“It was through a mutual friend, 7-8 years ago. He wanted to get his club off the ground. I like the idea and told him so. There was some money he still needed to open, so I lent him the amount. He paid me back, don’t worry,” Aron hurried to say. “David really has a nose for business. Now he still jokes about how I should have just remained an investor and asked him for my share year after year. But this was not why I helped him with money that time.”

“Then why?”

“I could tell he was passionate about it. Well, it may look foolish of me to take some of the money my father gave me and just place it in the hands of a stranger, but I have no regrets. David put the money to good use and even gave it back to me with interest.”

“Sounds like a hell of a story,” Carter murmured. “How come I’ve never heard of it?”

How come we’ve never heard of it?

“Sorry to break it to you, Alex, but you’re not exactly the listening type. I learned not to bore you to death with my past, or stories about my friends.”

“Like Carter?”

“Yes, like him, too,” Aron sighed. “But you wanted to know, so...”

The man fell silent and just stared at him. What was he supposed to say now?

“Well, I’m glad you told me about David. And about what he said about ... us. It’s okay, I’m not upset, you can go see him or talk to him. As long as he doesn’t convince you that you should divorce.”

C’mon, if this David dude is right, Aron would be better off without Alex the douchebag.

Shut up, I’m not going to break up with Aron.

Again, you’re nothing but a placeholder.

“He wouldn’t do that. And I have no plans to divorce you, I told you. I married you and I didn’t do it on a whim,” Aron said with determination.

“How come you didn’t complain to your parents about ... your marriage trouble?” Carter asked.

Aron looked away embarrassed.

“I didn’t want to worry them,” the guy replied, his words a tad clipped.

“Wait, what aren’t you telling me?” Carter picked up the change in Aron’s attitude right away.

“C’mon, it’s not like my mom was subtle about it,” Aron mumbled. “She’s not your biggest fan, as you know. But that’s how mothers are, I think,” he added quickly.

“Really? Your mom doesn’t like me?” Carter asked, in shock.

He knew Aron’s parents well. Seeing how much time he had spent under their roof, they had often joked about him being their other son. It was hard to imagine Clementine Ruskin not liking anyone. Especially a pretty boy like Alex. That was a bit of a shock.

“Well, I guess so,” Aron murmured.

Would his own mom think the same thing about the person he was going to marry, that if he ever got to that point? He couldn’t tell. Clementine loved her son and she surely wanted to see him happy.

“Eh, she’s still a bit upset I bought you the Spyder,” Aron continued, shaking his head. “Dad didn’t say anything, but he likes to keep things to himself. And it’s not like I have regrets about doing that. I think you deserve nice things,” he murmured and looked at Carter with honest, loving eyes.

“Are you happy, Aron?” Carter asked directly, and to stop the mothball growing in his throat from getting bigger. “Being married?”

What the fuck? That douche hadn’t even bought the car with his own money? Damn. Now that was a piece of info that was hard to swallow. And what was Aron getting out of this marriage anyway?

Aron sighed.

“I am, of course I am. I married the guy I love. It’s impossible not to be happy. What more can I ask for?”

“I don’t know, more than just sex once a week,” Carter mumbled.

“Please don’t mock me,” Aron frowned.

“I’m not. It’s just that it really feels like you’re really getting the short end of the stick in this,” Carter remembered what Aron had said about David’s opinion on things.

“Are you making a case against yourself now? Really, Alex, I have no idea what angle you’re working now, but I feel like it won’t end up well for me. As always,” Aron said, running one hand through his short hair in exasperation, “I cannot tell where I stand with you. What do you want me to say? That I’m always happy? It would be a lie. Marriage is not just milk and honey.”

“I don’t remember seeing your folks fighting,” Carter blurted out.

If there was someone to take after for a successful marriage, those were Aron’s parents. Carter knew his childhood and teenage years had been so happy because he had practically lived under their roof.

“Well, you’ve seen them very little, but it’s true that they get along fine,” Aron admitted, unaware of his temporary’s husband real knowledge of his parents’ marriage. “But couples are different. What works for some, may not work for others. And as long as I stick with you, as long as you’re my husband, we will pull it through. That’s what marriage is about.”

“Okay,” Carter mumbled. “It’s okay.”

It’s not okay. Alex is still a cheater.

Yeah, but I’m here. I can fix this.

In your dreams.

He chose to ignore that thought. Aron looked so dejected, standing there, his eyes cast down, his face all a frown, that he knew that he needed to do something. So he closed the space between them and took Aron into his arms.

“I trust you,” he said, pulling Aron as close as he could.

The guy seemed hesitant at first, probably still wondering how come half the breakable valuables around weren’t flying out the window right now but he hugged back.

“You really are changed,” Aron murmured into his hair. “I hope you stay this way. You would make my job a little easier, you know?” he chuckled. “Regardless of everything I sometimes say when I’m pissed, I want you and no one else, and if I have to work hard to deserve you, then so be it.”

“Okay,” Carter said softly. “Okay.”

“Now, what did you want to show me?” Aron nuzzled his ear slowly.