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Safe in the Fortrex after the defeat of the Monstrox Cloud, it was no surprise that as soon as everyone was inside the garage most of them separated almost immediately to go to their bedrooms. Aaron so badly wanted to join them because of how exhausted the battle made him, but his mind was racing over something that needed to be addressed before he even considered sleeping.
Remembering the moment his leadership was revealed to everyone, Macy's hurt and frustration was pretty understandable. If anyone should be chosen as leader to replace Clay it by all means should have been Macy, and if that wasn't bad enough, he had kept this very important thing secret from her.
There was very little time for the others to process him being the new leader and Macy's feelings were pushed aside in favour of the incoming battle, and even though they fought together like a well-oiled machine and engaged in their familiar flirting during the battle, after the battle was another story entirely. The emotional wounds were still most likely fresh for Macy and they no doubt needed to talk, but even though there were no more distractions getting in the way, they couldn't do so with everyone else around.
It was something that needed to be done privately, so when Macy didn't leave to go to her bedroom like everyone else had — leaving the two of them alone in their armour as they awkwardly stared at each other in silence, not quite meeting each other's gaze — he knew they were on the same page, and Macy was waiting patiently for him to apologise.
His heart was pounding at the thought of the inevitable conversation they were about to have, but not the good kind of heart pounding he was used to feeling around Macy, one that made him feel happy and free and comfortable. This was a bad kind of heart pounding, one that told him things were about to go very, very wrong if they went through with addressing it, and if he was being honest with himself, he was dreading the outcome since he didn't wanna lose Macy.
After all, the strong possibility of Macy breaking up with him because he broke her trust — a pretty valid reason, to be fair — would be the least of his worries if it also meant they could no longer work together as well as they did before the breakup because she couldn't bring herself to trust him again. And with the team already down one member, the team dynamic didn't need another major shake-up especially when they were barely coping after the first one.
Part of him wanted to leave it unaddressed in the hopes that things with Macy would at some point naturally go back to the way they were before his leadership was revealed, but he quickly dismissed the idea. That would only be running away from the problem, and he hated running away. If they were to come back from it like he was hoping they would — preferably with their relationship still intact, but he'd take her still willing to be friends with him and still have her in his life any day over not being friends at all — he knew they needed to address it first and it was something that had to be done soon.
And since he'd already been stalling for long enough, it was time to rip the band-aid off.
"Can we talk?" Aaron finally asked. His voice was filled with unease as he looked into Macy's eyes, hoping to have an idea of what she was thinking and feeling, but her gaze gave nothing away.
The air between them only got slightly less awkward when Macy gave a stiff nod. "My room in five?"
That would give them both time to remove their weapons and armour before meeting, and Aaron returned the stiff nod. He could see Macy hesitating and it looked like she wanted to say something, but instead of saying it, she gave a minuscule shake of her head before turning around to leave.
He figured that whatever it was she wanted to say was most likely better off being said when they met up again, so he didn't dwell on it. There wasn't much point in asking her about it now since he'd probably know what she wanted to say soon enough.
As he watched Macy walk away, he fought the urge to reach out and hold her hand, or kiss her, or tell her "I love you", or all of the above in that order. It wasn't the time nor place, and if Macy really did decide she no longer wanted to be with him, he knew she'd appreciate his lack of affection at that moment. All of those things would be like rubbing salt in the wound, so it was better not to let his usual affection show since he didn't want to make Macy's potential decision to break up with him even harder on her than it already was.
Once Macy left, Aaron made his way to his bedroom. Removing his armour, he was no longer weighed down by it, but the guilt still weighed heavily on him as he began the journey to Macy's bedroom. Every second that passed felt too slow, and even though he knew he was taking the same amount of time it usually took him to get to Macy's bedroom from his, it still felt like it took forever to get to.
Eventually, he was standing outside her bedroom door. It was already open, and he could see Macy looking down and fidgeting with her hands as she sat on the side of her bed, waiting for him to arrive.
It took only a couple of steps for Macy to look up and notice him walking in, and she stood up to meet him in the middle once he closed the door behind him. Standing face to face once again, Aaron felt his guilt about to spill over, and he was about to open his mouth and apologise for being such an awful boyfri—
"I'm sorry for how I reacted to you being the new leader," Macy apologised, looking down shamefully. "It wasn't fair to you that I wasn't being as supportive as I should've been. To tell you the truth, I was jealous. I thought it should've been me, since Clay is — was," she forcefully corrected, screwing her eyes shut for a few moments at the awful reminder of what happened to Clay. "Was my best friend," she continued once she regained her composure, but still couldn't look him in the eye. "It stung that I wasn't chosen as his successor. I should've been happy that my boyfriend was chosen, but instead I let my jealousy get the better of me, and I'm sorry for hurting you with my reaction."
Aaron frowned. "What are you talking about, Macy? You had every right to be upset. Honestly, when Clay and Merlok first told me, I didn't believe them at first, either." He put both hands on Macy's shoulders, causing her to look at him in surprise. "I thought it should've been you and that you would've made a wayyyy better leader than me, and when you were out there being awesome during the battle —" his eyes lit up at the memory "— I remember being so amazed and asking myself what I was doing in charge since you were right there and I thought there had to be some kind of mistake that I was chosen instead of you." He removed his hands from her shoulders, leaving them hanging awkwardly at his sides. "If anything, I should be the one apologising to you, which is actually why I asked you to talk in the first place. I never realised you wanted to apologise since I never felt that you needed to apologise for anything, and I'm sorry for making you feel like you had to apologise. Yeah, your reaction hurt at first, but I understood why you reacted the way you did, and since it didn't stop you from working with me during the battle, there was no real harm done." His expression became one filled with guilt. "Unlike the harm I caused you. I'm sorry for stealing your spot as leader and for keeping the whole leader thing a secret from you, I wanted to tell you so badly but Clay and Merlok insisted on secrecy until the time was right, and — I dunno..." his look turned anxious as he scratched the back of his head. "I guess I just wanna know if we're still cool?"
To his surprise, Macy cupped both of his cheeks and kissed him for a few seconds. Once they parted, one of her hands was still lingering on his cheek, and Aaron leaned into the touch. "What do you think?" She spoke gently, smiling as she gazed at Aaron with so much love in her eyes. "Of course we're still cool. It's gonna take a lot more than that to break the trust between us. I mean look at us, we've faced worse things with Jestro and his monsters, so the situation with you being leader shouldn't come between us, especially since we're talking it out right now and being honest with each other about our feelings so that it doesn't come between us. I'll admit, I was annoyed you kept it from me at the time, but the more I thought about it I understood why you did, and also why you were chosen instead of me. You were chosen by Clay and Merlok for a reason, and ultimately it wasn't my spot to take in the first place. As hard as it was to accept, the truth is that Clay and Merlok made the right decision making you leader, and you taking charge as we battled Monstrox proved that. I wouldn't have thought about going inside Monstrox to destroy him from the inside, and if I had the Combo Nexo Power instead of you and you told me your plan, I don't know if I would've been able to pull it off as well as you did. We need a leader like you who shows us that there's always a solution to any problem and you deserve the leader spot. What I'm trying to say is that you give us hope, Aaron, and I'll support you all the way."
"Thanks, Macy," Aaron replied gratefully, touched by her words. He could feel the weight being lifted off his shoulders from her support, and was relieved the leader thing didn't come between them after all. "I'm glad we're still together."
"Me too," Macy agreed. "I'm glad we talked this out. It's definitely made us both feel better about it." She let out a chuckle. "I wasn't sure how this conversation was going to go, but maybe I should've gone through with kissing you and saying 'I love you' before I left the garage after all. At least if I did that, it would've been made clear that you didn't have to worry about whether or not we're still cool, and the only reason I didn't go through with it was because I wasn't sure if you were upset with me for how I reacted, and I didn't want to risk making things worse. I mean, things were already pretty awkward back there, I didn't want things to get even more tense and awkward."
"I wouldn't have complained," Aaron reassured. "I could never complain about you being affectionate with me. But I know how you feel. I was tempted to hold your hand and kiss you and say 'I love you', but since I wasn't sure whether things were still cool between us, I thought me being affectionate would hurt you more if you wanted to break up. I thought the awkwardness back there was because you were waiting for me to apologise for upsetting you with the leadership secret, not because you thought I was upset with you."
Macy shook her head. "Breaking up never once crossed my mind," she reassured back. "And for any problems we have in the future, I'm sure we can talk things out like we did now. I'm happy we cleared things up and things went better than either of us expected."
Aaron let out a sigh of relief. "You can say that again. I didn't want us to break up, but I had to accept the possibility of it happening."
"Well," Macy responded cheerfully, placing her hands on her hips. "The good news for us is that we didn't. And now that we've talked about you being the new leader, you've got nothing to worry about anymore." The unconscious wince Aaron let out didn't go unnoticed by Macy, and her demeanour changed as she looked at him with concern. "Aaron?"
Knowing he was caught, Aaron decided the best course of action was to tell the truth. "About that..." he began. "Being leader is kinda stressing me out a bit, and honestly, I was hoping it didn't have to come to this." He chose his next words carefully as he prepared to open up to Macy. "I know I was chosen for the worst-case scenario of Clay turning to stone completely, but I never actually expected it to happen. I was always hoping that Merlok would be able to find a cure for Clay in time, but when he did fully turn to stone, the reality of the whole thing set in for me. I'm the leader now, this is what they've been preparing me for, but despite that I wasn't sure how well I would've adapted to the challenge of being leader, especially after finding out such a huge threat was coming our way when I just became leader. Everyone's counting on me to lead and be as good a leader as Clay, and I don't know if I can live up to everyone's expectations. I know I have very big boots to fill, and although my first mission as leader went well, a big part of me is wondering whether it was all just a fluke and whether I'll continue to be a great leader and I don't know how Clay was able to cope with the stress and responsibilities of being leader and I'm worried over whether or not one day it'll all be too much for me and I crash and burn and fail the kingdom and it'll all be my fau—"
"Breathe, Aaron," Macy instructed, and Aaron started taking deep, steady breaths.
That... was unexpected, to say the least. It wasn't like him to worry so much, but clearly the leader thing was affecting him more than he thought it would. A lot more. He could tell Macy was worried about him, and he did his best to give her a reassuring smile.
"Guess I needed to get that off my chest, huh?" Aaron said before chuckling, hoping to lighten the mood. "I'm okay now, don't worry."
Macy shook her head, unconvinced. "Oh, Aaron," she spoke sympathetically. "I never realised you felt that way about being leader. I know you're worried about living up to everyone's expectations, but you don't have to be like Clay to be a great leader. You're already a great leader, you and Clay handle leadership differently because you're two different people, and that's okay! It's nothing to be ashamed of. Honestly, I'm glad you chose to confide in me about how you're feeling being leader, instead of you bottling it up because you don't want any of us to worry about you." She placed both hands on Aaron's shoulders. "But you don't have to shoulder this responsibility on your own. I'll always be there for you to help you through it in whatever way I can."
Aaron chuckled. "What a very leader-y thing to say. But now that you mention it," he added thoughtfully. "Maybe there is a way for you to help."
"Which is?" Macy prompted.
Aaron beamed at her. "Will you be my super awesome co-leader, Maceatronic?"
"Is that an order or a request?" Macy teased.
"Request," Aaron confirmed. "If it's alright with you, I know I'd feel a lot better with you as my right-hand man so everything doesn't fall on just my shoulders."
"Then I'll glady accept the position," Macy nodded with a smile. "But now that we've talked about it, is there anything else you want to discuss?"
"There is one thing..." Aaron revealed with a grin, looking at Macy's lips.
"And what's that?" Macy asked innocently, knowing exactly what Aaron was planning.
Aaron answered her question by leaning in and kissing her, and Macy pulled him closer as they continued to eagerly kiss each other.
Neither of them knew nor cared how much time they spent doing so. All that mattered to them was that they were finally alone and able to spend some quality time together doing couple-y things without serious conversations and prying eyes.
Eventually, they slowly parted, eyes still closed as they held hands before delicately leaning in to rest their foreheads together. Any movement they made after that was minimal as they tried to remain as still as possible, neither of them daring to risk breaking the position they were currently in.
"I'm so glad you're safe, Aaron," Macy breathed. "You really scared me back there. I already lost my best friend today, I didn't want to lose you, too."
"I'm sorry for worrying you," Aaron breathed back.
"It's okay," Macy replied. "All that matters is that you're alive."
"Only because of your quick reflexes," Aaron pointed out. "Thanks, Macy. I would've been a goner if you didn't catch me." He was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "As stoked as I am that everyone at the battle survived, I just wish Clay was with us to experience this victory. The victory just feels bittersweet without him."
"It's a bit of a hollow victory, yeah," Macy agreed. "But hopefully once Merlok is reconnected to the Fortrex, we'll find a way to bring Clay back soon."
"Yeah," Aaron replied. "It's such a relief knowing Merlok isn't actually gone. I'm glad I managed to prevent Monstrox from destroying him, at least for now."
"You did everything you could, even when all hope seemed lost," Macy spoke. "I'm so proud of you. And you should be proud of yourself for what you accomplished during the battle."
"The battle really took it out of me," Aaron admitted. "I don't know about you, but I'm both physically and mentally exhausted because of it. The only reason I didn't go to bed right away was because I wanted to apologise to you first, and I'm glad we were able to have this conversation before we went to bed instead of waiting until tomorrow to resolve things. We can both rest easy tonight, that's for sure."
"Speaking of which," Macy added. "We should probably go to bed soon. It's been a long day, and everyone else is most likely asleep by now."
Despite her words, Macy didn't move an inch. Aaron didn't either, until a minute later he had an idea and pulled his head away, causing her to look at him.
"Stay with me tonight?" Aaron asked.
They wouldn't share a bed often, but after everything that happened today between Macy's mom getting kidnapped and rescuing her and Clay turning to stone and the battle they fought together, he just wanted to feel Macy beside him. Looking into Macy's eyes, he could tell she felt the same way, especially since she admitted she was scared of losing him and would most likely want to hold him to make sure he's still there.
Macy chuckled. "You read my mind. Big spoon or little spoon?"
"Little spoon," Aaron confirmed. "I just want to be held."
Macy smiled at him fondly. "I was hoping you'd say that. I want to hold you in bed tonight since it'll make me feel better knowing you're still there."
"Totally called it," Aaron stated proudly. "I had a feeling that's why you wanted to hold me in bed. That, and also because I know how badly you want to feel my super rad muscles," he added with a wink, letting go of one of Macy's hands to flex his arm.
Macy laughed. "Yeah, well, I suppose that is a nice bonus even if it's not my main reason." She looked at him curiously. "So whose bed are we sharing this time?"
Aaron smiled. "I don't mind as long as I get to spend it with you."
Macy snorted, but Aaron was pleased when he noticed the faint blush on her cheeks. "You love being cheesy, don't you?"
Aaron chuckled. "What can I say? Being cheesy with you is also my thing."
"I know," Macy replied softly. "But as much as I love it, it still doesn't help us figure out where we're sleeping tonight."
Aaron winked. "I always knew you loved it, what with your soft spot for me and all. But for our sleeping arrangement, do you have any preference?"
Macy grinned, repeating Aaron's earlier words. "I don't mind as long as I get to spend it with you. It's cheesy, sure, but it's the truth for us. That being said," she quickly added before Aaron could talk about the cheese. "Since we slept in here last time, maybe we should sleep in your room tonight?"
Aaron gave a thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan, Macy. Think we should get going soon?"
Macy nodded, and after sharing another kiss or two or twenty, they separated to perform their nighttime routines.
Leaving his bathroom once he finished his routine, the exhaustion caught up to Aaron as he stumbled to his bed and collapsed onto it. He didn't have to wait for long for Macy to arrive, and once she nestled herself behind him, he could feel her wrapping an arm around him and holding his hand.
He knew the bond between the two of them had grown even stronger after their conversation, and with Macy as his co-leader, maybe the responsibilities of being leader wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Night, Macy," Aaron spoke fondly, breaking the comfortable silence. "I love you."
"I love you too, Aaron," Macy replied back equally as fond, holding him a bit tighter in their embrace. "Goodnight."
With Macy's love and support making him feel warm inside, Aaron drifted off to sleep with a contented smile on his face.