aaront-town

[aaront-town]

“Thanks,” he responds on instinct, a small smile growing on his lips despite the fact that he knows she very likely has no intention of listening to anything new he’ll release. Not that he could relate, considering he’s tuned into every album drop and movie she’s made since they ended things - but Aaron just knew in his bones that she wasn’t the same way. All of this was just simple small talk, being polite for the sake of the potential of anyone around them overhearing. Even the question about his bandmates very likely meant nothing, but he nodded along and answered it anyway - letting her take the lead the way he almost always does. “They’re good. I think we’re all kind of glad to be out of the hustle and bustle of Hollywood. It’s easier to just… breathe out here, you know?”

It was times like right now where Aaron really wished he could be better at thinking things through, rather than just rolling with the punches and going along with anything with seemingly no care in the world. Because if he had given it even the slightest bit of extra thought, he would have realized bringing up Nibs was likely just as bad as mentioning Poppy. Potentially even worse, actually, since he had indeed actually slept with the boy - whereas his relationship with Poppy always had been and always would be, purely platonic. Even if Liv never could really fully believe that. “Yeah…” he agrees, trailing off for a moment as he nodded his head a few times, debating if it was best to just be honest or pretend like nothing at all had happened. It’s not like she was directly asking him outright if they fucked… He could easily play it off as nothing without seeming like a douche just dodging her questions. But he knew that was exactly what she was trying to say, bringing up the social media posts that had been made on Halloween night. “We’ve had some fun times, yeah. I got a bit close with him and one of his good friends - but that’s all we are, really. Just friends.” It’s a repeat of everything he’s sworn about plenty of other people in the past, and he slightly hates himself for having to defend his friendships again like this - but at least he’s being honest. Whether she wants to hear it or believe it or not, that was on her. Just like it always was.

Liv nodded along as he revealed his plans, still playing with her hair at the idea that he and his bandmates were officially settled on the island again. It wasn't just a couple of small visits as she was hoping they'd be, this greatened the odds of how many more awkward conversations she might have with Aaron in the future. "That sounds so fun, I can't wait to hear what y'all put out." She mainly only said this out of politeness, there weren't really any plans on listening to his music at all ever since they'd broken up. Liv only did when the breakup was still fresh and used it intermittently to sob to or to take out some aggression but other than that she wasn't keen on hearing his voice. "How're the guys? It's hard to keep tabs on them, I hope everyone's doing well."

Despite the fact that Liv was practically begging for the praise, she could tell he was sincere when he said she was amazing. It was as simple as a genuine compliment that could get a lively smile out of her. "Glad we can both agree on that, thank you." Liv had hoped that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance she could finally move on and be okay from the heartbreak like she convinced herself she was. But then the mention of Nibs popped up and it reminded her of exactly why she didn't think that was possible. "Yeah, I know Nibs. Fun guy." She'd figure he'd agree with that sentiment considering the fact that the rumor mill had implied those two shared a good time together alongside a third partner for all of social media to see. Aaron could do whatever he wanted while he was single, that was fine with Liv but she could've done without the knowledge of his private life and without the world asking her what she thought of the situation. "Y'know, I thought I saw you on his profile a couple of weeks ago, I could've sworn I was just seeing things but it's good to see that you two are, uh, close."

[aaront-town]

From the giggling to the strand of hair twirling around her fingers, Aaron knew this wasn’t a conversation she wanted to be having. Anyone else from the outside looking in wouldn’t have noticed anything wrong, likely would have even thought this was Liv being friendly and excited to see him, but he knew her tells and what she was like when she was feeling any sort of anxiety or nervousness. And this? This was a prime example of it. “Yeah, I came back a few weeks ago. We’re all here, the band I mean, working on our next album,” he explains, even though he doesn’t really need to have a reason to return to his hometown. But it was better to give that excuse than let her think he’d come all this way just for her - even if that had indeed been a contributing factor to his decision to relocate to Echo again.

“I did, actually. You were amazing, like always,” he agreed, a genuine smile growing on his face at the thought of her performance. It had been the entire reason he’d come tonight, to see Liv perform, but he knew better than to admit to that. Acting casual was going to be the best way to go, especially once her head turned to the side and Aaron realized she pieced together just who he was here with. Nothing had happened between him and the other popstar, not now or ever in the past, but he knew she wouldn’t believe him if he explained that - so it was best to just pretend like he didn’t know exactly what she was already thinking. “Nah, I’m just here to support some friends. I was just getting ready to go watch one of them actually. You know Nibs, right? He and the other guy are doing one of their songs from the movie you all did together.” Something she probably already knew, especially considering she just said she had seen the set list, but he feels it’s still his best bet to make it seem as if he were here for multiple people rather than the girl whose dressing room he just came out of.

"Aaron. Hi," a nervous giggling fit took over whenever she'd caught herself under an extremely unfortunate set of circumstances that needed just a bit of alleviating. She found herself subconsciously playing with a lock of her hair, if the giggling wasn't a sign that she was uncomfortable then this certainly was. "I didn't even know you were on the island," A complete lie but one she felt she had to make because saying she was stalking his every move through a burner account for the past few weeks was inappropriate. It all started with a post she saw the day after halloween on a former co-star's instagram, and then it led to her finding out exactly what he had been up to since they ended things. "Did you see my performance? Didn't I just sound so good out there?" A small brag was necessary, the amount of practice she'd put into those songs felt worth it, and she just wanted the affirmation. Being caught up in the shock that he was here at all, he didn't know the 'why' of it all. All it took was a small look to his right and she felt like she found the answer right there. She'd kept the smile on her face despite the elephant now in the room, but maybe had less pep to her as her eyes drifted back to him after seeing Poppy's dressing room and only guessing the worst. "Are you, uhm, performing? I didn't see your name on the setlist." Liv could only hope someone wasn't actively trying to throw her off her game by adding him in to the showcase at the last minute and not warning her, so his answer was actually quite pertinent.

[aaront-town]

closed starter for @intheslightest location: some bar idk

One of the best things about being back in his hometown and out of the shitstorm that was LA was the lack of care people had for him. Sure, there were fans who would stop and ask for an autograph or picture - but hardly any paparazzi followed him around which meant he was free to go pretty much wherever he wanted. And tonight where he wanted was the rundown little bar he’d played his first live performance in, way back in the day. It’s nostalgic, sitting once again in one of the sticky little booths he and the rest of his band used to cram into so often when they were teenagers. Now he has one entirely to himself as he listens to the guy up on the stage, playing a bunch of different covers to the half listening crowd. He’s good and Aaron finds himself even more impressed when he starts covering one of his own songs, deciding right then and there that he’d be buying the boy a drink when his set was all done. It only lasts a few more songs before the guitar is being packed up and he steps down from the stage to make his way over to the bar. Standing from his own spot, Aaron cuts the short distance to stand behind the stranger and brings his hand up to rest on the other guy’s shoulder. “That was a killer show you put on up there,” he compliments as he slides into the open stool with a grin. “What’s your name and what are you drinking? It’s on me, for playing one of the better covers I’ve heard of that song.” He doesn’t say specifically which one he’s talking about, assuming that the boy would know once he realized just who was sitting next to him.

[aaront-town]

closed starter for @rooneysliv location: the theatre community fundraiser show thing

Though he was backstage in thanks to Poppy and her invitation for him to watch the show, everyone around them likely knew the real reason Aaron had shown up at a musical theatre showcase. Sure, if asked he was going to say he was here to support his friend and if his ex-girlfriend happened to be brought up, he was prepared to deny knowing she was even a part of the setlist… but everyone likely saw right through those lies. Even he found it slightly hard to believe the words. But whatever, it didn’t matter why he was here - just that he was. He had no intentions of actually reaching out to Liv today - all he had wanted was to just be there to see the show, to see her in person performing for the first time since they’d broken up. Seeing her in her element on a stage had always been one of his favorite things, and that wasn’t going to change just because they were no longer together. If he had the opportunity to be on the sidelines and watch her perform again, he was always going to take it - no matter where they were at in their personal lives.

His attempts at staying out of her way weren’t exactly the best and clearly didn’t end up working when he happened to be leaving Poppy and Sharpay’s shared dressing room at the same time that Liv was leaving her own, right next door. Of all the ways they could have run into each other or any of the ideas he’d had for letting her know he was back on the island, this standing in the hallway staring at each other in complete shock that the other one was really there certainly hadn’t been on either list. But here they were and there was no going back down, running away or dodging back into the dressing room would only make him look guilty and that was the last thing he wanted to seem like in front of her. So instead he found himself raising a hand, a half smile growing on his lips as he greeted her. “Hey. I, uhh, I didn’t realize you’d be here tonight,” he lies, thinking that to be better than admitting he was here purely to see her.

[aaront-town]

meet aaron turner :

Born and raised in Echo Isle, Aaron didn’t have much to his name for the first portion of his life. His father had left before he was even born and his mother was always bouncing from relationship to relationship, barely paying any attention to her oldest child. But Aaron kept himself too busy to really care. From a young age he’d been involved in the music scene of his school - playing guitar and singing in nearly every showcase or production the elementary and middle schools put on. 

It wasn’t until his freshman year of high school that he actually became serious about doing something outside of school, though. A few of the older kids a few years above him invited him to be their new lead singer of their garage band, Scare Tactics, and while he hesitated at first, eventually he agreed once they told him how much he’d be making per gig they booked. All they ever played was a bunch of covers, but they had a few standing regular weekly gigs at some of the bars and rundown clubs around the island and on the mainland. 

While he had originally only joined for the sake of the pay, Aaron turned out to love the band and stuck with them until he was sixteen. They slowly started working on their own original songs, even if they didn’t really play them anywhere. He would have continued down the road, seeing what they could do and where the band could take him - but his music teacher at school had convinced him to send in an audition tape for an at the time untitled potential project. Aaron hadn’t expected it to go anywhere, mostly did it just to get his teacher off of his back, but then before he knew it he was being flown out to LA for the in person rounds of auditions.

The project turned out to be a search for the last member of an upcoming boyband, 4*TOWN. It seemed kind of silly to Aaron that they would be looking for a fifth member of a band that pretty much advertised themselves as a quartet, but once he got to the stage of meeting the boys and hearing the demos they’d already recorded he got it. Something was missing from the group, it was obvious. And somehow, it turned out that the missing piece was him.

The decision to leave Echo Isle wasn’t one he made lightly. He had friends and family, his band and everything he’d ever known there. But the chance of making it big, of being able to fully support his siblings and mother was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up on. So he took the offer to join the band and moved to LA at the age of seventeen.

The boys ended up becoming some of his best friends and he loved his time in the band. They stayed together for five years, coming out with an EP each year of their time together until their contract ended when Aaron was twenty-one. It was a mutual decision to bring 4*TOWN to an end, each of the boys ready to move on to something new. Or in Aaron’s case, return to something he’d had before.

With 4*TOWN over, Aaron had debated for a month or so on going solo before the idea struck him. Being on a stage by himself was never something he had much interest in, plus he knew he’d be expected to put out the same type of music the band had always performed - even though it was never really his favorite genre. What he really loved was rock and punk. And with that realization, he knew what he wanted.

Calling up his old band had been far easier than he thought it’d be, everyone being willing to give it another go - this time on a bigger scale. It took about a year for them to get everything in line and the whole band moved out to LA and then another year after that to create their first album - but once they did they were an instant hit in the rock world.

Scare Tactics has released three albums and done a tour for each one. They just finished their latest tour at the end of September 2024. Normally they would have been working on their next album as they toured, but this go around they had all fallen in a bit of a slump. In hopes of getting out of it, they all decided to return to their hometown on Echo Isle now that the borders were reopened, to try to spark some new inspiration and also just get away from the hustle and bustle of LA life.

4*TOWN discography can be found HERE.

Scare Tactics discography can be found HERE.

When he was younger, still living on the island, he had befriended a lot of people, especially in the music department at school. That included one Liv Rooney, who he later reconnected with when they were both living out in LA. They were quickly fast friends and it was clear that they each felt something more and deeper for each other - but under his first label with 4*TOWN, Aaron had been strongly discouraged from being in any kind of relationship. It was always thought to be best for as many of the boys to remain single and seemingly potentially obtainable to the fans.

Once the band broke up though, the two began officially dating and they were together for five years before Liv put an end to things. Rumors had always flown around that either of them were potentially cheating on each other with any and all friends of the opposite sex they each had - but it wasn’t until Poppy Can was officially single for the first time in her entire career that things really got insane. Aaron had been friends with Poppy since the start of his career, never anything more, but practically every tabloid and gossip rag decided to spin the story differently. Claims were being made that the two had actually been together all this time, others saying they’d decided now to get together after years of harboring secret feelings for each other, or whatever bullshit they could come up with to sell papers and get clicks. None of it was true, but well… a lot of it sounded very convincing. And when Aaron refused to stop hanging out with Poppy, it put a tension on his relationship with Liv until she eventually called it quits and up and left to return to Echo Isle.

For all Aaron had wanted to follow after her, to fix things and make her see how ridiculous the whole situation was - he was booked on tour. And by the time it was over, the borders were closed and he had no way of getting back into the isle. 

He has not publicly dated anyone sense, nor has he privately dated anyone for that matter. He’s had hook ups and flings, but nothing serious by any means. He is very much still hung up on Liv and broken over their end, even though it was two years ago. A part of why he wanted to return to Echo now was to either see if there was any way of sparking what they had again or if not, to finally get the closure that he needs to really move on.

[aaront-town]

AVAN JOGIA for grumpy magazine

[aaront-town]

@pscentral​​ event 10: best of 2022 2002

↳ 4★TOWN - musical act of the year

[aaront-town]

tag dump.