All the Times People Got the Wrong Idea about Matt and Aiden, X-Factor Fic, RPS, Matt/Aiden
Title: All (Well Most of) the Times People Got the Wrong Idea about Matt and Aiden and One Time Matt and Aiden concluded They Had It Right All Along
Word Count: 4,750
Rating: PG I think
Disclaimer: Not Mine - real people, in fact. And this almost certainly probably definately didn't happen.
Summary: Does pretty much what it says on the tin. This was meant to be a 'five times' fic but it got longer.
All (Well Most of) the Times People Got the Wrong Idea about Matt and Aiden and One Time Matt and Aiden concluded They Had It Right All Along
by northern_rain
Joanna Taplin, after hearing about nothing but Matt since Aiden got back from Australia
“He’s kind of sexy,” Joanna decides when Matt’s audition is over. Honestly, she’s not sure if Aiden’s even heard her, he went into a kind of trance the moment Matt appeared on the screen and she’s not sure if he’s out of it yet.
“Matt says thanks,” Aiden responds eventually, and she notices the phone in his hands. “He says you’re clearly his favourite of all his friends’ mums and he can’t wait to meet you. I’ve told him that’s just creepy but he doesn’t seem to care.”
Aiden pauses for a moment, turning to look at her properly. “He was good, wasn’t he,” he studies her face anxiously.
“Amazing,” she replies honestly. “And the audience thought so too. I hope your audition comes across as well, I can barely remember it, I was so terrified at the time.”
“Yeah me too. Matt says the same thing, and so did most of the others.”
“You talked about it then?”
“We spent all eternity on a plane,” he grimaces, “there wasn’t much we didn’t talk about.”
He curls up against her and she wraps her arms around him like they used to do when it was just the two of them and they told each other everything. Aiden still does tell her everything, more or less. Since he’s come back from Australia he’s been different. And she doesn’t just mean the way nearly every sentence he utters has a reference to Matt in it somewhere. He seems to have grown up, and she wonders if it’s the time away from home, or the pressure he’s going to be under soon, or something else all together.
“You’ve got a bit of a crush on him though right,” she teases, ruffling his hair. Aiden has always told her about his crushes, he was telling her about boys he thought were pretty before he even realised what it meant, and he’s never developed that reticence that her friends’ teenagers have.
It kind of hurts when he protests, “of course not Mum, he’s my best friend” because she thinks it can’t be true, thinks he’s hiding something from her.
It doesn’t take more than a few days to realise he’s hiding from himself, and she stops teasing him about having a crush on his cool, older friend, because she starts to think it might be true. Until the moment she meets Matt, she worries about Aiden getting his heart broken, but one look at the two of them together reassures her on that score.
(Matt just shows up on the doorstep one day a couple of weeks before the live shows begin with a cheery “morning Mrs Taplin is Aiden in?” and it takes Aiden all of about a minute to recover from the shock of seeing Matt in Blackpool, and the two of them are talking ten to the dozen and heading out to the beach so Matt can see the sights.
They spend the day together and when Matt leaves after an early tea, Joanna looks carefully at her son as she says, “so he drove 300 miles because he fancied a chat?”
“He was in the area, kind of,” Aiden insists earnestly.
“And he’s not your boyfriend?”
“Mum!” Aiden manages to look horrified for all of about thirty seconds before collapsing into giggles, and insisting, “I know he’s great, but you need to get over the idea of him as a son-in-law. He’d definitely be off the market then.”
“But at least I could look,” she teases in response, letting him change the subject.)
The Final Sixteen, after hearing the pet names
The first time Matt called Aiden ‘babe’ the entire table had fallen quiet, excepting Aiden, who’d just carried on talking like it was nothing special, slowly trailing off when he realised everyone else was gaping at the two of them.
“What?” He’d looked blankly at them and Nicolo had opened his mouth before shutting it with an ‘ow’ and a glare at Treyc. Several of the One Direction boys were silenced in a similar manner, and as Rebecca and Mary just smiled at them, Aiden shrugged and turned his attention onto Matt again.
That evening, Louis had followed him outside to ask what was going on.
“Babe?” He just looked at Aiden who shrugged, like what’s going on? “Have we missed out on the gossip?” Louis pushed and Aiden finally got it.
“No, what, no. It’s just a bit of fun.”
Louis left it there, because he’d been given strict instructions (from Liam) not to push things if Matt and Aiden weren’t ready and as Liam was clearly the brains of the band, he must be obeyed.
By the end of the week Matt and Aiden were both aware of being closely watched by the others, but weren’t entirely sure why they required such attention, or why things like Aiden falling asleep on Matt while watching telly, or Matt taking Aiden a cup of tea in the morning required quite as many significant looks as they got.
It was a joke, Aiden wanted to go back and explain to Louis. He’d watched Matt dealing with the people working on the show and the fans he’d already seemed to earn, and teased him about the endless stream of ‘sweetheart’s, ‘darling’s and ‘beautiful’s with which he seemed to address people.
“You are such a luvvie,” he’d giggled as Matt sent off another beaming fan.
“Just shit with names,” Matt had confessed.
“So should I feel flattered that you’ve bothered learning mine, or upset that you felt you had to learn it because ‘beautiful’ would be inappropriate?”
“Nah, could have gone with handsome or cute if I’d needed,” Matt had grinned, pinching Aiden’s cheek, “barely an exaggeration at all.” Aiden had pretended to flounce off, leaving Matt chuckling in his wake.
A bit later they’d been packing up, “lets go babe,” Matt had winked and Aiden had mock cheered at the choice. After that, it just seemed to stick.
One Direction, after the Man Date photo was published
In Aiden’s view the One Direction boys had gone slightly insane when the picture appeared in the press. For several days he was being teased with questions about how the date had gone, and why Matt was on the phone, and was Aiden’s heart broken. Matt, he felt, had got the much better end of the deal as the boys just simply refused to speak to him, citing Aiden’s ‘sad little face’ (as Niall called it, waving the picture in Matt’s face) as the reason.
Aiden really wasn’t sure why people kept getting the wrong end of the stick. He and Matt went to the pub, or MacDonalds, or something several nights a week, so it wasn’t exactly unusual. And yeah, so they’d snuck out this time, but that was simply because they hadn’t wanted the One Direction boys tagging along.
And Aiden was hardly going to be mad at Matt for taking the call when that was the whole point of them going out. For over a week Matt had been getting texts from his ex with all sorts of hints about other stories she was planning to sell to the papers. It had taken Aiden nearly an hour to drag this from Matt (which was longer than Matt had ever kept anything from him since they met) and he refused point blank to take the issue to Simon or Dannii, which left the two of them to sort it out, which maybe wasn’t ideal, but Aiden wasn’t going to leave Matt to do it alone.
Matt had been on the phone for about fifteen minutes when the paparazzi showed up. Aiden had been getting increasingly worried during the conversation, watching Matt slowly turn away from him, hunching his shoulders defensively and hardly getting a word in edgeways as the increasingly loud voice at the other end talked and talked and talked.
He wasn’t sure what he missed when he turned to watch the photographer be shoved out of the pub by a burly looking security guard, but when he turned his attention back to Matt he had finally been getting angry.
“Shut up,” he barked finally, and Aiden had wondered why it had taken him so long to snap. “I know it was a shitty way to end things and I’m sorry I hurt you, but you can’t take these lies and insinuations to the press and expect nothing to happen...no, you can say what you want about me but if you do this then I go to Simon...fine.”
He hung up and downed his pint without saying a word.
“Sorted,” Aiden had asked leaning back into the table now it didn’t look like he was trying to listen.
“I have no idea. The things she was saying...” Matt had shaken his head. “Nasty little slurs about, well...”
“She’s not going to hurt you though,” Aiden had pushed the issue, knowing full well that he would go to Dannii if the answer was yes, regardless of what Matt wanted. “No, not me,” Matt had just looked sad, not the disillusioned sadness that he’d greeted the first kiss and tell with, but something deeper. “I think she knows she won’t get anywhere with it though.”
“Good,” Aiden had grinned, which brought the first smile of the evening from Matt. “Pay some attention to me then.”
Matt had laughed, and nothing had appeared in the papers bar that one photo so Aiden considered the evening a success.
Then the whole One Direction thing started.
In the end Aiden gave up arguing with them and simply said Matt had made up for ignoring him and he was totally forgiven so the boys should really get over it.
They were nice to Matt after that, so Aiden considered it half a victory (only half though, because they’d definitely walked away speculating about what exactly Matt had done to earn forgiveness).
Rebecca. the night Aiden was voted out
When Aiden left Matt held it together for about as long as it took to get him safely back to the house. On stage he’d headed straight for Aiden the moment Konnie left him, the One Direction boys forming an anxious, slightly traumatised barrier around the two of them, a barrier that they alone breached, as each one in turn took a moment to touch Aiden on the shoulder, to hug him, to mutter inarticulately how sorry they were. And to quietly check Matt was holding it together.
Aiden ended up being the one who stayed calm. Matt’s devastation gave him the impetuous necessary to hold it together, the stunned look more or less gone by the time he had to be in the studio with Dannii.
All his hard work convincing Matt that this wasn’t the end of the world and that he was ok was nearly undone when he took one look at Dannii’s heartbroken face as she looked at him.
(Actually she was looking at them, but he hadn’t realised it at the time.)
“It’s fine,” he’d whispered, hugging her hard and she either believed him, or decided that if he could fake it, so could she.
Matt had refused to leave the studio without Aiden, hovering while his family petted and consoled him and riding with him back to the house where One Direction proceeded to do exactly the same thing while he slunk off.
He’d cried on Rebecca’s shoulder in the end. He’d tried sneaking off but she found him, sitting on the floor outside, head buried in his knees, chest heaving and totally unable to explain why the thought of Aiden leaving had left him this wrecked. She’d held him while he cried, and relinquishing him only when Aiden appeared.
“I thought this was my moment for a good old cry,” Aiden smiled, sitting down next to Matt.
Rebecca watched the two of them from the window as they sat there in silence, neither of them saying anything. That they were both thinking about how few hours they had left together was clear by the little glances they kept shooting at each other, and at their watches. In the end they clearly decided they wouldn’t waste any more time moping, and headed back inside.
No one commented Matt’s red eyes and prolonged absence when they rejoined the others, and Rebecca took a moment to grab Aiden’s hand and mutter “look after him tonight, we’ll look after him for you for the rest of the show” and Aiden looked at her, half in confusion, and half in incredulity, like any other course of action would be unthinkable.
(“You can do this without him,” Rebecca had murmured as Matt cried, “I know you don’t want to hear this but you can.”
“I don’t want to do this without him,” Matt’s response was muffled.
“Have you thought about why?”
“He’s my best friend,” Matt had replied, but it lacked the usual exasperation that he and Aiden used when uttering the increasingly tired phrase. Rebecca gave up trying to prod him towards his feelings in favour of soothing words and hair stroking.)
Paige, in the week after Aiden left
Paige wasn’t entirely sure how he’d let Aiden talk him into sharing a room with Matt once Aiden had left. One minute he’d been slapping him on the back and telling him he’d do great anyway, and the next Aiden was handing him earplugs, helping him move into his old room and telling him to take Nicolo’s bed, because Matt sometimes liked to sleep in Aiden’s and the last thing Paige wanted was Matt climbing into his bed at night because it just made the snoring a hell of a lot louder.
He’d left that one well alone, and he’d also not said anything when he found Matt in Aiden’s bed the next morning, the covers on Matt’s own bed flung clumsily to one side like he’d staggered across the room in the middle of the night which, come to think of it, he probably had.
Paige had never felt particularly sympathetic towards Nicolo before that week, assuming that the other man must have been overreacting to Matt’s snoring, because if Aiden didn’t feel the need to decamp, then surely it wasn’t that bad. He’d been wrong. Matt clearly needed to see the doctor or something because even with the earplugs he was being disturbed.
In the end he’d resorted to Aiden’s trick of drop calling Matt but, “he puts his phone on silent,” Paige wailed to Aiden.
“Of course he does, he’s not stupid,” Aiden sounded positively indignant.
“Then how the hell did you get any sleep?”
“You have to get his phone and take it off silent of course.”
“Again, how?”
“It’s hardly hard. You could nick it out of his pocket when he gives you a goodnight hug, or you could grab it when he takes the glasses down to the dishwasher. You could get him to get you a drink of water and do it then, or get yourself tucked up in bed and remember that you’ve left the bathroom light on and get Matt to turn if off for you because you’re nice and cosy.”
“You are so spoilt,” Paige laughed.
“He’s a nice guy,” Aiden protested, “he’d do the same for you.”
In a million years, Paige couldn’t imagine Matt running around after himself, or anyone else in the house in the way he ran after Aiden, but Aiden wouldn’t hear anything of it.
In the end, Paige decided to work on Aiden’s nice guy theory and asked Matt to leave his phone on. He agreed with an apologetic smile and Aiden’s trick worked.
The next morning Matt, staring out of the window, thanked him for sticking it out. “I know the snoring is a pain, but it’s nice to have someone else around, you know.”
“Yeah man, I get it,” Paige had smiled, because really, they all knew what Aiden’s departure had meant to Matt, even if neither of them would admit to more than the loss of a best friend.
“It reminded me of him, the phone trick,” Matt added quietly, and Paige didn’t know what to say, shrugging awkwardly and leaving Matt alone with his thoughts.
He did text Aiden though. Call Matt - your boyfriend’s pining for you.
He’s not my boyfriend was the automatic, predictable response, followed a few seconds later by, will do - thanks
Half an hour later, a smiling, upbeat Matt came downstairs, slapping Paige on the back and saying, “lets go do this,” and Paige knew what he meant was ‘thanks’.
Jenny Cardle, when Matt came home for some TLC
It had taken her the better part of half a day to get the film crew out of her house, but in the end, with over the phone support from Dannii and the determination that came from years of being a mother to stubborn boys, she managed to win her point and get them to leave her son alone.
She knew the rules, knew when the tablets were needed, knew that he needed sleep and fluids, and knew that he should be on total voice rest, and she was determined that he would follow these rules to the letter.
The first time she caught him awake and texting, she’d smiled and told him to put the phone away and get some sleep. His face spoke his protest but she’d assumed he’d obey. Half an hour later, she came back in to check on him and left, phone in hand and a scowling Matt finally laying down for sleep.
She’d glanced at the phone to see who he was texting. Aiden. She smiled and finished Matt’s text adding, I’ve sent Matt to bed and taken his phone - sorry
About time too :) was the response, and she’d smiled, remembering what a nice boy Aiden was, and what a good influence he’d been on her son.
A few hours later she was passing Matt’s room, and she felt vindicated in checking up on her 28 year old son when she heard the sound of talking coming from his room. Pushing the door open slightly, she could see Matt sitting up in bed, laptop open in front of him, and him holding the whiteboard the doctor had given him up to the screen. Tinny laughter and a Blackpool accent came from the laptop and Matt’s face lit up in response. He should be sleeping, she knew, but right then he looked happier and healthier than he had done in over a week, and she didn’t have the heart to break it up. She eased the door closed again, reasoning that another few minutes ‘chatting’ with his friend wouldn’t hurt him.
When she went back into Matt’s room, she found him asleep, curled up with the laptop still open.
“Hi Mrs Cardle,” the quiet voice made her jump.
“Hi Aiden.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Not great. He’s meant to be resting more than he is.”
“Sorry, but he’s going crazy cooped up like this.”
“It’s alright, you’re cheering him up,” she smiled at the screen and Aiden grinned back at her. She could see why her son was gone over this boy.
“The god awful snoring started a few minutes ago,” Aiden added, “so I think he’s properly asleep.”
She wanted to ask why he was still there, why he hadn’t logged off, but she knew he was doing exactly what she was - checking up on someone he loved.
When Matt wakes, she tells him “Aiden says bye, and he has a gig tonight but he’ll message you tomorrow.”
Thanks, Matt writes on his board.
She hovers at the door for a moment before giving in and adding. “He’s nice, I like him a lot. Is he...are you and he...”
The look on Matt’s face and the hastily scrawled we’re just friends suggest she’s not the first one to wonder about their relationship, and she drops the subject, but when she remembers the look on her son’s face every time he talks to, or about, Aiden, she suspects that everyone else will be proved right, and those two will have to accept their gloating with good grace.
Robbie Williams, after simply seeing the two of them together
“Have you seen Matt,” Dannii sticks her head into Brian’s studio where One Direction are rehearsing with Robbie Williams. Well, what would pass for rehearsing anyway. Mostly Simon had tasked Brian with ensuring the five boys could be on stage with Robbie without collapsing with excitement. Clearly they’d gotten over any incapacitating shyness because they six of them were messing around quite happily, leaving Brian to watch them with something of both fond amusement and exasperation.
“He’s outside with his boyfriend,” Robbie replied when she repeated the question and caused the 6 of them to actually pay attention to her.
“Goodie, Aidey’s here,” Louis immediately jumped up and headed for the exit, Dannii trailing in his wake (perhaps aware that she only had a small window of time in which to steal Matt while Aiden was distracted by Louis), leaving the other four members of the band to turn their attention to Robbie, staring at him.
“What?” He shifted under their scrutiny, “you know, Aiden. The kid with the weird hair, but a damn good voice.”
“Aiden’s not his boyfriend.”
Robbie laughs at that, he can’t help it. “I’m hardly likely to go running to the papers you know guys, I have been in this business for a while.”
“Aiden’s not his boyfriend,” Liam repeats.
“Seriously?” They all nod and for a moment Robbie is genuinely shocked. “I was standing there,” he points in the direction of the back entrance, “I saw Aiden arrive, and I saw Matt’s reaction. He lit up, they both did.”
It had been more than that. They’d clung to each other, no brief, manly back slapping hug for them. They’d clung to each other for several minutes until Matt had been doubled over with another coughing fit and Aiden had helped him sit on the floor, petting and fretting over him while it cleared. They’d held hands as they talked, heads bent together and staying in constant contact, as if neither could believe the other was really in front of them. Robbie had gone back to the rehearsals because he’d never felt more like he was intruding.
His complete inability to believe they weren’t together was clearly written all over his back because Niall just grinned and said “welcome to our world mate.”
“But they will be right?” Because he can’t believe he could have been so wrong about them.
“Yeah, we think so, they just need to get past the idea that they’re ‘just good friends’.” Zayn made mocking air quotes over the last three words, like maybe they’d all heard that one too many times.
“If I was like that with Jonny, the missus would have left years ago,” Robbie mutters, and the others voice their agreement.
“Try telling them that - they don’t believe us,” Niall looks frustrated but Liam quickly adds. “Not that we would - we’re leaving them alone,” with a significant glare at the rest of his band.
“Dannii stole Matt, so I’ve bought Aidey with me so he doesn’t sink into despair,” Louis announces, pulling a grumpy looking Aiden into the room with him and effectively cutting off the discussion.
***
If Rhianna hadn’t walked past him on her way to the stage Robbie thinks he would have ignored the way Aiden waited anxiously in the wings while Matt performed his first song (and the way the two of them had been totally wrapped up in each other for the entire day). He would have left that night smirking, knowing that one day they’d figure it out.
But then Rhianna happened to walk by, and he happened to get an eyeful of her outfit and he just couldn’t help but catch her hand and say, “do me a favour, crank it up a notch. Blow that boy’s brains out.”
And she’d just smiled and nodded in agreement.
Dannii, because after ten weeks you really had to wonder
Standing at the side of the stage, clutching Aiden’s hand and watching Matt sing his winning song, Dannii stole a glance at Aiden, who looked about ready to jump out of his skin if he wasn’t allowed to get at Matt soon.
She’d watched him as the result was announced, One Direction all hovering around him like he needed support and not for the first time she wondered if she had been completely blind when it came to those two.
When Niall broke free of the stage hands and Aiden tore after him Dannii had laughed, but Matt’s reaction bought the question up again. No matter how many people threw themselves on him, Matt kept fighting his way back to Aiden, and no one seemed in the smallest bit surprised.
Hours later, when they were preparing for the party, she shooed the others out of the hotel room.
“Matt, sit for a moment,” she smiled and he rested his head on her shoulder. Taking his hands she said in a casual voice. “It’s probably a bit late to be asking you this, but is Aiden your boyfriend?”
“No,” he croaked, a weak laugh escaping and making her feel bad for making him talk at all, “why does everyone think that?”
She nearly didn’t say anything but in the end couldn’t help herself. “You do seem kind of...necessary to each other.”
Matt smiled, “I think we are. I mean, I know he is...”
“Doesn’t that ever make you wonder? Seriously Matt,” she pulled back so she could face him, “do you think you love him.”
“Of course I love him.”
“Love him like I love Kris?”
Matt looked stunned and Dannii supposed she could have picked her moment better. “Don’t worry about it now, but maybe in a few weeks, when all the madness is over, think about it?”
Matt nodded dazedly and Dannii quickly changed the subject back to the party and the fact that he’d won!
Matt and Aiden, That Makes Maiden
“Dannii asked me what the deal was between the two of us.” Matt was enjoying a rare day off, one of his first since winning. He’d met Aiden and they’d spent the morning doing their Christmas shopping in a surprisingly quiet London (snow was a wonderful thing). Aiden had come back with him to his hotel and they’d wrapped up their presents while watching one of the music channels (Aiden had almost exploded with excitement when Matt’s video came on, but Matt, after a quick glance at the screen, had spent most of the track watching Aiden instead). They’d put a film on afterwards, curling up on the sofa in the way they had always done in the house, and Matt had remembered Dannii’s words.
“Not Dannii as well,” Aiden’s eyes were wide but he wasn’t laughing like he had whenever One Direction bought it up in the house. He looked almost worried, Matt thought, which was weird.
“Does she...” Aiden bit his lip, “can I not see you anymore. Is that what all this is about?”
Matt’s heart jumped and his stomach turned at the thought of not seeing Aiden again. “God no, why on earth...?”
“Everyone thinks it, and everyone hints at it, and you are spending several minutes of every interview labouring how straight you are and how hot Rhinanna is and I just thought maybe it’d be easier...”
There’s about five different things Matt wants to take issue with in that little burst of insecurity, but all of them are lost under the horror of the idea of not seeing Aiden again.
“Dannii said we seemed necessary to each other,” he was smiling now, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to lean forward and kiss Aiden.
Aiden didn’t move, didn’t respond.
“Oh god,” Matt pulled away quickly, “have I just ruined everything?”
Aiden just sat there, a slow smile spreading across his face. “You just kissed me.”
“I know,” Matt relaxed slightly, “I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t kiss me back.”
“You just kissed me,” Aiden repeated. “Does that mean I’m hotter than Rhianna?”
“Totally,” Matt grinned, and Aiden all but launched himself on Matt kissing him.
“I knew it,” he broke away for a moment to smirk, before kissing Matt again and again and again.
And both were thinking ‘why the hell didn’t we do this before’ even as Aiden pushed Matt over to the bed.
Word Count: 4,750
Rating: PG I think
Disclaimer: Not Mine - real people, in fact. And this almost certainly probably definately didn't happen.
Summary: Does pretty much what it says on the tin. This was meant to be a 'five times' fic but it got longer.
All (Well Most of) the Times People Got the Wrong Idea about Matt and Aiden and One Time Matt and Aiden concluded They Had It Right All Along
by northern_rain
Joanna Taplin, after hearing about nothing but Matt since Aiden got back from Australia
“He’s kind of sexy,” Joanna decides when Matt’s audition is over. Honestly, she’s not sure if Aiden’s even heard her, he went into a kind of trance the moment Matt appeared on the screen and she’s not sure if he’s out of it yet.
“Matt says thanks,” Aiden responds eventually, and she notices the phone in his hands. “He says you’re clearly his favourite of all his friends’ mums and he can’t wait to meet you. I’ve told him that’s just creepy but he doesn’t seem to care.”
Aiden pauses for a moment, turning to look at her properly. “He was good, wasn’t he,” he studies her face anxiously.
“Amazing,” she replies honestly. “And the audience thought so too. I hope your audition comes across as well, I can barely remember it, I was so terrified at the time.”
“Yeah me too. Matt says the same thing, and so did most of the others.”
“You talked about it then?”
“We spent all eternity on a plane,” he grimaces, “there wasn’t much we didn’t talk about.”
He curls up against her and she wraps her arms around him like they used to do when it was just the two of them and they told each other everything. Aiden still does tell her everything, more or less. Since he’s come back from Australia he’s been different. And she doesn’t just mean the way nearly every sentence he utters has a reference to Matt in it somewhere. He seems to have grown up, and she wonders if it’s the time away from home, or the pressure he’s going to be under soon, or something else all together.
“You’ve got a bit of a crush on him though right,” she teases, ruffling his hair. Aiden has always told her about his crushes, he was telling her about boys he thought were pretty before he even realised what it meant, and he’s never developed that reticence that her friends’ teenagers have.
It kind of hurts when he protests, “of course not Mum, he’s my best friend” because she thinks it can’t be true, thinks he’s hiding something from her.
It doesn’t take more than a few days to realise he’s hiding from himself, and she stops teasing him about having a crush on his cool, older friend, because she starts to think it might be true. Until the moment she meets Matt, she worries about Aiden getting his heart broken, but one look at the two of them together reassures her on that score.
(Matt just shows up on the doorstep one day a couple of weeks before the live shows begin with a cheery “morning Mrs Taplin is Aiden in?” and it takes Aiden all of about a minute to recover from the shock of seeing Matt in Blackpool, and the two of them are talking ten to the dozen and heading out to the beach so Matt can see the sights.
They spend the day together and when Matt leaves after an early tea, Joanna looks carefully at her son as she says, “so he drove 300 miles because he fancied a chat?”
“He was in the area, kind of,” Aiden insists earnestly.
“And he’s not your boyfriend?”
“Mum!” Aiden manages to look horrified for all of about thirty seconds before collapsing into giggles, and insisting, “I know he’s great, but you need to get over the idea of him as a son-in-law. He’d definitely be off the market then.”
“But at least I could look,” she teases in response, letting him change the subject.)
The Final Sixteen, after hearing the pet names
The first time Matt called Aiden ‘babe’ the entire table had fallen quiet, excepting Aiden, who’d just carried on talking like it was nothing special, slowly trailing off when he realised everyone else was gaping at the two of them.
“What?” He’d looked blankly at them and Nicolo had opened his mouth before shutting it with an ‘ow’ and a glare at Treyc. Several of the One Direction boys were silenced in a similar manner, and as Rebecca and Mary just smiled at them, Aiden shrugged and turned his attention onto Matt again.
That evening, Louis had followed him outside to ask what was going on.
“Babe?” He just looked at Aiden who shrugged, like what’s going on? “Have we missed out on the gossip?” Louis pushed and Aiden finally got it.
“No, what, no. It’s just a bit of fun.”
Louis left it there, because he’d been given strict instructions (from Liam) not to push things if Matt and Aiden weren’t ready and as Liam was clearly the brains of the band, he must be obeyed.
By the end of the week Matt and Aiden were both aware of being closely watched by the others, but weren’t entirely sure why they required such attention, or why things like Aiden falling asleep on Matt while watching telly, or Matt taking Aiden a cup of tea in the morning required quite as many significant looks as they got.
It was a joke, Aiden wanted to go back and explain to Louis. He’d watched Matt dealing with the people working on the show and the fans he’d already seemed to earn, and teased him about the endless stream of ‘sweetheart’s, ‘darling’s and ‘beautiful’s with which he seemed to address people.
“You are such a luvvie,” he’d giggled as Matt sent off another beaming fan.
“Just shit with names,” Matt had confessed.
“So should I feel flattered that you’ve bothered learning mine, or upset that you felt you had to learn it because ‘beautiful’ would be inappropriate?”
“Nah, could have gone with handsome or cute if I’d needed,” Matt had grinned, pinching Aiden’s cheek, “barely an exaggeration at all.” Aiden had pretended to flounce off, leaving Matt chuckling in his wake.
A bit later they’d been packing up, “lets go babe,” Matt had winked and Aiden had mock cheered at the choice. After that, it just seemed to stick.
One Direction, after the Man Date photo was published
In Aiden’s view the One Direction boys had gone slightly insane when the picture appeared in the press. For several days he was being teased with questions about how the date had gone, and why Matt was on the phone, and was Aiden’s heart broken. Matt, he felt, had got the much better end of the deal as the boys just simply refused to speak to him, citing Aiden’s ‘sad little face’ (as Niall called it, waving the picture in Matt’s face) as the reason.
Aiden really wasn’t sure why people kept getting the wrong end of the stick. He and Matt went to the pub, or MacDonalds, or something several nights a week, so it wasn’t exactly unusual. And yeah, so they’d snuck out this time, but that was simply because they hadn’t wanted the One Direction boys tagging along.
And Aiden was hardly going to be mad at Matt for taking the call when that was the whole point of them going out. For over a week Matt had been getting texts from his ex with all sorts of hints about other stories she was planning to sell to the papers. It had taken Aiden nearly an hour to drag this from Matt (which was longer than Matt had ever kept anything from him since they met) and he refused point blank to take the issue to Simon or Dannii, which left the two of them to sort it out, which maybe wasn’t ideal, but Aiden wasn’t going to leave Matt to do it alone.
Matt had been on the phone for about fifteen minutes when the paparazzi showed up. Aiden had been getting increasingly worried during the conversation, watching Matt slowly turn away from him, hunching his shoulders defensively and hardly getting a word in edgeways as the increasingly loud voice at the other end talked and talked and talked.
He wasn’t sure what he missed when he turned to watch the photographer be shoved out of the pub by a burly looking security guard, but when he turned his attention back to Matt he had finally been getting angry.
“Shut up,” he barked finally, and Aiden had wondered why it had taken him so long to snap. “I know it was a shitty way to end things and I’m sorry I hurt you, but you can’t take these lies and insinuations to the press and expect nothing to happen...no, you can say what you want about me but if you do this then I go to Simon...fine.”
He hung up and downed his pint without saying a word.
“Sorted,” Aiden had asked leaning back into the table now it didn’t look like he was trying to listen.
“I have no idea. The things she was saying...” Matt had shaken his head. “Nasty little slurs about, well...”
“She’s not going to hurt you though,” Aiden had pushed the issue, knowing full well that he would go to Dannii if the answer was yes, regardless of what Matt wanted. “No, not me,” Matt had just looked sad, not the disillusioned sadness that he’d greeted the first kiss and tell with, but something deeper. “I think she knows she won’t get anywhere with it though.”
“Good,” Aiden had grinned, which brought the first smile of the evening from Matt. “Pay some attention to me then.”
Matt had laughed, and nothing had appeared in the papers bar that one photo so Aiden considered the evening a success.
Then the whole One Direction thing started.
In the end Aiden gave up arguing with them and simply said Matt had made up for ignoring him and he was totally forgiven so the boys should really get over it.
They were nice to Matt after that, so Aiden considered it half a victory (only half though, because they’d definitely walked away speculating about what exactly Matt had done to earn forgiveness).
Rebecca. the night Aiden was voted out
When Aiden left Matt held it together for about as long as it took to get him safely back to the house. On stage he’d headed straight for Aiden the moment Konnie left him, the One Direction boys forming an anxious, slightly traumatised barrier around the two of them, a barrier that they alone breached, as each one in turn took a moment to touch Aiden on the shoulder, to hug him, to mutter inarticulately how sorry they were. And to quietly check Matt was holding it together.
Aiden ended up being the one who stayed calm. Matt’s devastation gave him the impetuous necessary to hold it together, the stunned look more or less gone by the time he had to be in the studio with Dannii.
All his hard work convincing Matt that this wasn’t the end of the world and that he was ok was nearly undone when he took one look at Dannii’s heartbroken face as she looked at him.
(Actually she was looking at them, but he hadn’t realised it at the time.)
“It’s fine,” he’d whispered, hugging her hard and she either believed him, or decided that if he could fake it, so could she.
Matt had refused to leave the studio without Aiden, hovering while his family petted and consoled him and riding with him back to the house where One Direction proceeded to do exactly the same thing while he slunk off.
He’d cried on Rebecca’s shoulder in the end. He’d tried sneaking off but she found him, sitting on the floor outside, head buried in his knees, chest heaving and totally unable to explain why the thought of Aiden leaving had left him this wrecked. She’d held him while he cried, and relinquishing him only when Aiden appeared.
“I thought this was my moment for a good old cry,” Aiden smiled, sitting down next to Matt.
Rebecca watched the two of them from the window as they sat there in silence, neither of them saying anything. That they were both thinking about how few hours they had left together was clear by the little glances they kept shooting at each other, and at their watches. In the end they clearly decided they wouldn’t waste any more time moping, and headed back inside.
No one commented Matt’s red eyes and prolonged absence when they rejoined the others, and Rebecca took a moment to grab Aiden’s hand and mutter “look after him tonight, we’ll look after him for you for the rest of the show” and Aiden looked at her, half in confusion, and half in incredulity, like any other course of action would be unthinkable.
(“You can do this without him,” Rebecca had murmured as Matt cried, “I know you don’t want to hear this but you can.”
“I don’t want to do this without him,” Matt’s response was muffled.
“Have you thought about why?”
“He’s my best friend,” Matt had replied, but it lacked the usual exasperation that he and Aiden used when uttering the increasingly tired phrase. Rebecca gave up trying to prod him towards his feelings in favour of soothing words and hair stroking.)
Paige, in the week after Aiden left
Paige wasn’t entirely sure how he’d let Aiden talk him into sharing a room with Matt once Aiden had left. One minute he’d been slapping him on the back and telling him he’d do great anyway, and the next Aiden was handing him earplugs, helping him move into his old room and telling him to take Nicolo’s bed, because Matt sometimes liked to sleep in Aiden’s and the last thing Paige wanted was Matt climbing into his bed at night because it just made the snoring a hell of a lot louder.
He’d left that one well alone, and he’d also not said anything when he found Matt in Aiden’s bed the next morning, the covers on Matt’s own bed flung clumsily to one side like he’d staggered across the room in the middle of the night which, come to think of it, he probably had.
Paige had never felt particularly sympathetic towards Nicolo before that week, assuming that the other man must have been overreacting to Matt’s snoring, because if Aiden didn’t feel the need to decamp, then surely it wasn’t that bad. He’d been wrong. Matt clearly needed to see the doctor or something because even with the earplugs he was being disturbed.
In the end he’d resorted to Aiden’s trick of drop calling Matt but, “he puts his phone on silent,” Paige wailed to Aiden.
“Of course he does, he’s not stupid,” Aiden sounded positively indignant.
“Then how the hell did you get any sleep?”
“You have to get his phone and take it off silent of course.”
“Again, how?”
“It’s hardly hard. You could nick it out of his pocket when he gives you a goodnight hug, or you could grab it when he takes the glasses down to the dishwasher. You could get him to get you a drink of water and do it then, or get yourself tucked up in bed and remember that you’ve left the bathroom light on and get Matt to turn if off for you because you’re nice and cosy.”
“You are so spoilt,” Paige laughed.
“He’s a nice guy,” Aiden protested, “he’d do the same for you.”
In a million years, Paige couldn’t imagine Matt running around after himself, or anyone else in the house in the way he ran after Aiden, but Aiden wouldn’t hear anything of it.
In the end, Paige decided to work on Aiden’s nice guy theory and asked Matt to leave his phone on. He agreed with an apologetic smile and Aiden’s trick worked.
The next morning Matt, staring out of the window, thanked him for sticking it out. “I know the snoring is a pain, but it’s nice to have someone else around, you know.”
“Yeah man, I get it,” Paige had smiled, because really, they all knew what Aiden’s departure had meant to Matt, even if neither of them would admit to more than the loss of a best friend.
“It reminded me of him, the phone trick,” Matt added quietly, and Paige didn’t know what to say, shrugging awkwardly and leaving Matt alone with his thoughts.
He did text Aiden though. Call Matt - your boyfriend’s pining for you.
He’s not my boyfriend was the automatic, predictable response, followed a few seconds later by, will do - thanks
Half an hour later, a smiling, upbeat Matt came downstairs, slapping Paige on the back and saying, “lets go do this,” and Paige knew what he meant was ‘thanks’.
Jenny Cardle, when Matt came home for some TLC
It had taken her the better part of half a day to get the film crew out of her house, but in the end, with over the phone support from Dannii and the determination that came from years of being a mother to stubborn boys, she managed to win her point and get them to leave her son alone.
She knew the rules, knew when the tablets were needed, knew that he needed sleep and fluids, and knew that he should be on total voice rest, and she was determined that he would follow these rules to the letter.
The first time she caught him awake and texting, she’d smiled and told him to put the phone away and get some sleep. His face spoke his protest but she’d assumed he’d obey. Half an hour later, she came back in to check on him and left, phone in hand and a scowling Matt finally laying down for sleep.
She’d glanced at the phone to see who he was texting. Aiden. She smiled and finished Matt’s text adding, I’ve sent Matt to bed and taken his phone - sorry
About time too :) was the response, and she’d smiled, remembering what a nice boy Aiden was, and what a good influence he’d been on her son.
A few hours later she was passing Matt’s room, and she felt vindicated in checking up on her 28 year old son when she heard the sound of talking coming from his room. Pushing the door open slightly, she could see Matt sitting up in bed, laptop open in front of him, and him holding the whiteboard the doctor had given him up to the screen. Tinny laughter and a Blackpool accent came from the laptop and Matt’s face lit up in response. He should be sleeping, she knew, but right then he looked happier and healthier than he had done in over a week, and she didn’t have the heart to break it up. She eased the door closed again, reasoning that another few minutes ‘chatting’ with his friend wouldn’t hurt him.
When she went back into Matt’s room, she found him asleep, curled up with the laptop still open.
“Hi Mrs Cardle,” the quiet voice made her jump.
“Hi Aiden.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Not great. He’s meant to be resting more than he is.”
“Sorry, but he’s going crazy cooped up like this.”
“It’s alright, you’re cheering him up,” she smiled at the screen and Aiden grinned back at her. She could see why her son was gone over this boy.
“The god awful snoring started a few minutes ago,” Aiden added, “so I think he’s properly asleep.”
She wanted to ask why he was still there, why he hadn’t logged off, but she knew he was doing exactly what she was - checking up on someone he loved.
When Matt wakes, she tells him “Aiden says bye, and he has a gig tonight but he’ll message you tomorrow.”
Thanks, Matt writes on his board.
She hovers at the door for a moment before giving in and adding. “He’s nice, I like him a lot. Is he...are you and he...”
The look on Matt’s face and the hastily scrawled we’re just friends suggest she’s not the first one to wonder about their relationship, and she drops the subject, but when she remembers the look on her son’s face every time he talks to, or about, Aiden, she suspects that everyone else will be proved right, and those two will have to accept their gloating with good grace.
Robbie Williams, after simply seeing the two of them together
“Have you seen Matt,” Dannii sticks her head into Brian’s studio where One Direction are rehearsing with Robbie Williams. Well, what would pass for rehearsing anyway. Mostly Simon had tasked Brian with ensuring the five boys could be on stage with Robbie without collapsing with excitement. Clearly they’d gotten over any incapacitating shyness because they six of them were messing around quite happily, leaving Brian to watch them with something of both fond amusement and exasperation.
“He’s outside with his boyfriend,” Robbie replied when she repeated the question and caused the 6 of them to actually pay attention to her.
“Goodie, Aidey’s here,” Louis immediately jumped up and headed for the exit, Dannii trailing in his wake (perhaps aware that she only had a small window of time in which to steal Matt while Aiden was distracted by Louis), leaving the other four members of the band to turn their attention to Robbie, staring at him.
“What?” He shifted under their scrutiny, “you know, Aiden. The kid with the weird hair, but a damn good voice.”
“Aiden’s not his boyfriend.”
Robbie laughs at that, he can’t help it. “I’m hardly likely to go running to the papers you know guys, I have been in this business for a while.”
“Aiden’s not his boyfriend,” Liam repeats.
“Seriously?” They all nod and for a moment Robbie is genuinely shocked. “I was standing there,” he points in the direction of the back entrance, “I saw Aiden arrive, and I saw Matt’s reaction. He lit up, they both did.”
It had been more than that. They’d clung to each other, no brief, manly back slapping hug for them. They’d clung to each other for several minutes until Matt had been doubled over with another coughing fit and Aiden had helped him sit on the floor, petting and fretting over him while it cleared. They’d held hands as they talked, heads bent together and staying in constant contact, as if neither could believe the other was really in front of them. Robbie had gone back to the rehearsals because he’d never felt more like he was intruding.
His complete inability to believe they weren’t together was clearly written all over his back because Niall just grinned and said “welcome to our world mate.”
“But they will be right?” Because he can’t believe he could have been so wrong about them.
“Yeah, we think so, they just need to get past the idea that they’re ‘just good friends’.” Zayn made mocking air quotes over the last three words, like maybe they’d all heard that one too many times.
“If I was like that with Jonny, the missus would have left years ago,” Robbie mutters, and the others voice their agreement.
“Try telling them that - they don’t believe us,” Niall looks frustrated but Liam quickly adds. “Not that we would - we’re leaving them alone,” with a significant glare at the rest of his band.
“Dannii stole Matt, so I’ve bought Aidey with me so he doesn’t sink into despair,” Louis announces, pulling a grumpy looking Aiden into the room with him and effectively cutting off the discussion.
***
If Rhianna hadn’t walked past him on her way to the stage Robbie thinks he would have ignored the way Aiden waited anxiously in the wings while Matt performed his first song (and the way the two of them had been totally wrapped up in each other for the entire day). He would have left that night smirking, knowing that one day they’d figure it out.
But then Rhianna happened to walk by, and he happened to get an eyeful of her outfit and he just couldn’t help but catch her hand and say, “do me a favour, crank it up a notch. Blow that boy’s brains out.”
And she’d just smiled and nodded in agreement.
Dannii, because after ten weeks you really had to wonder
Standing at the side of the stage, clutching Aiden’s hand and watching Matt sing his winning song, Dannii stole a glance at Aiden, who looked about ready to jump out of his skin if he wasn’t allowed to get at Matt soon.
She’d watched him as the result was announced, One Direction all hovering around him like he needed support and not for the first time she wondered if she had been completely blind when it came to those two.
When Niall broke free of the stage hands and Aiden tore after him Dannii had laughed, but Matt’s reaction bought the question up again. No matter how many people threw themselves on him, Matt kept fighting his way back to Aiden, and no one seemed in the smallest bit surprised.
Hours later, when they were preparing for the party, she shooed the others out of the hotel room.
“Matt, sit for a moment,” she smiled and he rested his head on her shoulder. Taking his hands she said in a casual voice. “It’s probably a bit late to be asking you this, but is Aiden your boyfriend?”
“No,” he croaked, a weak laugh escaping and making her feel bad for making him talk at all, “why does everyone think that?”
She nearly didn’t say anything but in the end couldn’t help herself. “You do seem kind of...necessary to each other.”
Matt smiled, “I think we are. I mean, I know he is...”
“Doesn’t that ever make you wonder? Seriously Matt,” she pulled back so she could face him, “do you think you love him.”
“Of course I love him.”
“Love him like I love Kris?”
Matt looked stunned and Dannii supposed she could have picked her moment better. “Don’t worry about it now, but maybe in a few weeks, when all the madness is over, think about it?”
Matt nodded dazedly and Dannii quickly changed the subject back to the party and the fact that he’d won!
Matt and Aiden, That Makes Maiden
“Dannii asked me what the deal was between the two of us.” Matt was enjoying a rare day off, one of his first since winning. He’d met Aiden and they’d spent the morning doing their Christmas shopping in a surprisingly quiet London (snow was a wonderful thing). Aiden had come back with him to his hotel and they’d wrapped up their presents while watching one of the music channels (Aiden had almost exploded with excitement when Matt’s video came on, but Matt, after a quick glance at the screen, had spent most of the track watching Aiden instead). They’d put a film on afterwards, curling up on the sofa in the way they had always done in the house, and Matt had remembered Dannii’s words.
“Not Dannii as well,” Aiden’s eyes were wide but he wasn’t laughing like he had whenever One Direction bought it up in the house. He looked almost worried, Matt thought, which was weird.
“Does she...” Aiden bit his lip, “can I not see you anymore. Is that what all this is about?”
Matt’s heart jumped and his stomach turned at the thought of not seeing Aiden again. “God no, why on earth...?”
“Everyone thinks it, and everyone hints at it, and you are spending several minutes of every interview labouring how straight you are and how hot Rhinanna is and I just thought maybe it’d be easier...”
There’s about five different things Matt wants to take issue with in that little burst of insecurity, but all of them are lost under the horror of the idea of not seeing Aiden again.
“Dannii said we seemed necessary to each other,” he was smiling now, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to lean forward and kiss Aiden.
Aiden didn’t move, didn’t respond.
“Oh god,” Matt pulled away quickly, “have I just ruined everything?”
Aiden just sat there, a slow smile spreading across his face. “You just kissed me.”
“I know,” Matt relaxed slightly, “I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t kiss me back.”
“You just kissed me,” Aiden repeated. “Does that mean I’m hotter than Rhianna?”
“Totally,” Matt grinned, and Aiden all but launched himself on Matt kissing him.
“I knew it,” he broke away for a moment to smirk, before kissing Matt again and again and again.
And both were thinking ‘why the hell didn’t we do this before’ even as Aiden pushed Matt over to the bed.