Arthur was sitting in the meeting room, very bored and wondering when it was going to end, when his phone started vibrating in his pocket.
He sighed and pulled it out, the screen displaying a number he didn't recognize.
Deciding the call would be more interesting than the meeting, Arthur raised his hand.
"Yes England?"
"May I take a call?"
Germany nodded and Arthur stood up.
He didn't notice Francis stand also and follow him into the hall.
"Hello?"
"Hello. Is this Mr. Kirkland?"
"This is him. Who may I ask is calling? I'm rather busy at the moment in a meeting," he said in an uncaring tone.
"I'm from the fire and rescue team."
Arthur froze.
"W-Why are you calling me?"
"A fire started on your property."
"W-Was anyone hurt?"
"Unfortunately yes. You should probably come and inspect it yourself."
"O-Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Arthur hung up and slid down the wall.
"What happened?" Francis asked as he walked up to the Brit.
"Th-There was a fire…at my home."
Francis's eyes widened.
"How did zat happen?"
Arthur shook his head.
"I have no idea. We have smoke detectors and we don't live that far out of the way that it would have taken long to get there."
Francis stared at Arthur for a moment before holding out his hand.
"Come on. I'll drive you."
Arthur didn't move.
"I don't need you to drive me, frog," he said as he turned his face away.
Francis smiled.
"I know zat. I'm offering to."
Arthur studied Francis for a moment before taking his hand.
"Fine, but don't think that this means anything."
"Of course not."
Francis hauled him to his feet.
"Thank you," Arthur muttered.
Francis nodded.
"Just wait here one moment. I'll be right back."
Arthur watched Francis walk out of the room.
Germany turned to Francis when he entered.
"Ah. Zhere you are Francis. Vhere is England?"
"Zere has been an accident at Angleterre's house and I am driving him home."
"Zhat's fine. Just make sure come back later."
Francis nodded again.
"D'accord. Au revoir."
He walked out of the room and rejoined Arthur.
"Come on. We can go."
Francis led Arthur through the building and outside to where his car was parked.
Arthur stopped and raised a bushy eyebrow at it.
"What?"
"Never saw you as an SUV person."
"My car is being worked on," Francis said simply and Arthur's wandering eyebrow fell back into place. Francis unlocked the car and slid into the driver's seat. "Plus, I do have a son you know. I need a car I can carry him safely in."
Arthur looked into the backseat and saw a carseat before turning to stare at him.
"You have a son?"
"Oui."
"Who's the mother?" He smirked. "Or do you not know."
Francis glared at him.
"Non. I know."
"Well who is it?"
Francis ignored him and started driving to Arthur's house.
As they were approaching Arthur's property, they were stopped by a police barricade.
An officer walked up to the car and Francis rolled his window down.
"Sorry. No visitors."
"I own this house."
"What's your name?"
"Arthur Kirkland. I live here with my wife Alice, and our sons Alfred and Peter."
The officer nodded.
"You may go through."
He moved the barricade out of the way and let them pass.
Francis drove up to the house and Arthur gasped next to him.
He parked and they jumped out of the car.
Arthur's beautiful, English Tudor home was gone.
Nothing remained of the structure but the ash on the ground.
"Are you Mr. Kirkland?"
"Yes. What happened?"
"It seems as though someone was cooking in the kitchen, when they left the stove unattended for a short while. A dish rag that was a little too close to the stove caught fire and it spread."
"Where's Alice?" Arthur asked as he looked around for her.
"She was inside the house during the fire. We assume she was sleeping and had no idea of the danger downstairs."
Arthur sank to his knees.
"So she's d-de-?"
He couldn't finish.
"She's dead."
The man pointed to a white sheet on the ground.
Arthur took shaky steps towards it and pulled the edge back.
He fell backwards in horror and grief and Francis could see a person burned beyond all recognition.
Arthur was sobbing into his hands and Francis felt a little bad for him.
"Where's votre fils?"
"I-I don't know," Arthur looked at the ash. "W-Were they-?"
"No. No one else was inside."
"T-Then where are they?"
A car made its way up the drive.
"Arthur?"
The man turned his head to see a young woman stepping out of the car.
"Oh," he said sadly. "Hello Mary."
"I picked Alfred up from Pre-School for you. Peter is there too."
"Thank you, but why?"
"Alice put me as Alfred's emergency contact since you work."
"Where are my boys now?"
"At my house. The school called me after calling your house several times and receiving no answer."
"Can I see them?"
"Yes. You can take them home if you want."
Arthur stood up weakly and turned to Francis.
"Thank you for the ride. You can go back to the meeting now."
"Where will you stay?"
"Umm…a hotel. Until I can find a new residence. Maybe ask one of my brothers to stay with them?"
Francis's eyes narrowed at the mention of Arthur's brothers.
"Non. You will stay with moi."
"That's not necessary."
"I insist."
"What about Alfred and Peter? Won't they be a bother?"
"Zey can come too. I wouldn't dream of separating you from votre fils. Mathieu will be happy to have someone his age to play with anything."
"Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Oui. I have plenty of room."
Arthur hesitated but Francis's offer appealed a lot more than any thought up by his brothers.
"Thank you."
"Of course."
"Shall we go?" Mary cut in. "Alfred is very confused."
The pair nodded and all three climbed into the two separate cars.
AN: I'm a bad person, I admit it. I've been working on this story for a while and am almost done writing the fourth chapter. *shame* I didn't want to put it up yet, but I wanted to prove that I've been working and not just neglecting my other stuff. I should have new chapters up of 'BV2' 'ATDML' 'Refuge' 'Taken' 'Please Forgive Me' and 'Back to Childhood' soon! I seriously have seven (that's right, SEVEN!) Word documents open on my computer right now and I'm trying to work on all of them tomorrow.
Sorry about that but see you soon! :D
Oh! And I wrote that FranceXSnape I mentioned and need to type that up...it think that one's gonna be a twoshot...we'll see.