Picture Perfect
By; XSpecial-Dreamer-Like-YouX984
Hiya there! I'm Vanilla, and welcome to my first Franada fanfic! Ahh, I've loved Franada for such a long time, it's about time I write something for them! Anyways, this is a Human!AU, which I hope you guys don't mind. If you do, then bye! Anyways, this is a surprise-gift for LadyBeemer, a hardcore Franada shipper. I adore her a whole bunch, and she's such a cutie, so I'm dedicating this to her! ;u; I hope you guys like this!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except this story.
Francis Bonnefoy finally came home, after hours of working. He was extremely exhausted, to say the least.
"Bonjour," Matthew called out from the couch, turning his head to see Francis. "L'amour." He was reading one of his favorite books, one that his classmate from High School had recommended to him, named Lovino Vargas. The book was called 'The Mysterious Benedict Society'. It had been years since he had last read the book, yet he remembered every single detail. His brother used to nickname him 'Sticky Washington-Williams' because of that reason.
"It's cold and raining. Thanks for coming to see me," Matthew said, eyes following Francis's every step with eyes filled with one emotion; love.
Francis didn't say anything, which wasn't much of a surprise to Matthew. Matthew smiled to himself, and continued reading the book - that is, until he heard some ruffling next to him. He looked away from the book to where the sound was coming from, and to his surprise, it was a small box Francis was holding. It wasn't just a small box; oh no, it was the small box he had gotten Francis for his birthday. He had been overjoyed when Matthew handed him the box. The box's lid was light green and covered with little flowers. The container held a darker green color, but was still wrapped with a little bow.
Francis opened the box without uttering a sound and looked at the box's contents with a smile. He picked up the first thing that was on top of everything else; a card with balloons in the middle. He didn't open the card, though.
Matthew smiled, too, and said, "I've never seen you so happy before. I can't believe you still have that card and camera."
Francis was still smiling, but Matthew could tell that his eyes held a certain distance look to them. Instantly, Matthew knew Francis was recalling the time he gave him the birthday gift box.
[[Flashback~]]
"May I open my eyes now, mon cher?" Francis asked, his hands covering both his eyes. Matthew told him that the gift was a secret, and that he told him he had to close his eyes for him.
The voice of his lover made Francis's ears perk up a bit, and his love said, "Okay, open them now!"
Matthew was in front of him, messy, but still looking lovely as ever and holding out a homemade cake. On it in beautiful cursive, read, 'Joyeux Anniversaire, Francis!'. Francis happily blew the candles out, and thanked Matthew with the utmost sincerity.
"You're welcome," Matthew said, before giving him one of the biggest hugs he had ever received.
After placing the cake on the table, Matthew handed his gift - a green box with flower decorations and a pretty little red bow - to Francis. To say Francis was curious was quite an understatement. But for a lack of better words, he went with that. He placed it next to his ear (which Matthew chuckled a little bit at) and shook it. Whatever was inside made a soft rumbling noise. Carefully, as if it was the most fragile thing in the world, Francis opened it. Inside was a white, cute little camera. It was like the ones Francis had as a kid, and it was almost nothing like the high-tech cameras they had nowadays.
Matthew took the camera that Francis usually used when taking pictures and told him, "We won't really need this now, unless you still want to use it when taking pics."
"Non, non, we could use this little one. It's really cute," Francis said.
Francis played around with the new device, trying to get used to it. And when he thought Matthew was preoccupied cutting a piece of cake for him, he took a photo. After taking it and grabbing the little photo that popped out, Francis looked up to see a pouting Matthew. Francis laughed weakly, complementing Matthew on how cute he looked right then and there, and that he couldn't have not taken the photo. That caused Matthew to blush red, which Francis's smile widened at.
"Let's take a photo together," Francis suggested, and Matthew agreed.
They both smiled for the camera, and right before clicking the button to take the photo, Matthew gave Francis a big kiss on the cheek. The camera made a 'click' sound, and soon the picture came out the other end. Matthew took it in his hands and shook it a bit to clear the picture. The picture was perfectly timed, and it showed both Francis and Matthew with big smiles on their faces.
[[End of Flashback~]]
Francis had a smile plastered on his face as he sighed at the memory. Then, he took out another picture, where there was Matthew wearing a short-sleeve t-shirt and was holding a vanilla ice-cream.
"Ha, I look so silly in that one. It was so hot that day, too! Ah, but the view was quite lovely. Can you believe it actually rained, though? There's really something I love about the rain. Ah, but you know that, don't you?," Matthew asked, remembering that time when they visited the top of a hill on a scorching summer day.
He looked at Francis, who was still not looking at him, and Matthew gave a slight smile. He knew he was reminiscing.
Francis was practically dragging Matthew to the top of the hill, not minding the hot weather. When they got there, Matthew looked at the view with eyes as wide as dinner plates.
"This is amazing, Francis! The view is wonderful!" Matthew complimented, not taking his eyes off the vast land that seemed to go on forever. He stepped on top of the fence that stopped him from going any further. It gave him a much better view.
They spent their time on the hill hugging, chatting, and storytelling. At one point, during storytelling, Matthew got an ice-cream. Francis took a picture of Matthew, laughing and enjoying himself. He thought Matthew was the most gorgeous person in the world when he laughed and smiled. Francis opened his mouth, indicating he wanted a taste of the ice-cream. Francis was close to tasting the sweet (but fattening) cold dessert, when Matthew purposely missed his mouth and left vanilla ice-cream on his cheek.
Francis, at first, was surprised by the sudden act, but when he saw Matthew's attractive smirk, he couldn't help but play along and chuckle. He wiped his mouth, but didn't see a Matthew take a picture of him before he got rid of the vanilla.
"Ah~ You're so mean, mon cher," Francis joked. Then, he grabbed Matthew by the waist and started tickling him. Matthew's reaction was just what Francis wanted.
Matthew burst out laughing, nearly dropping the camera. He clutched tightly at the camera though, which caused his ice-cream to fall from his hand. He was laughing too hard to notice, though. After the tickling, they cuddled up since Matthew was exhausted from laughing so much. After regaining his energy, he said, "You owe me a new ice-cream, Francis."
Francis's hearty laugh filled the air, and, hugging Matthew, he kissed his forehead, saying, "Oui, oui, don't worry, I will."
Then, Francis took out another picture. It was a picture of both of them lying down on a couch. With the picture was one of Matthew's shirts.
Matthew gasped at the sight of his shirt. "That used to be my favorite shirt! If I could, I would wear it everyday. Too bad I can't," he said.
Francis smiled lovingly at the shirt, and held it close to him.
It was a Sunday, Francis and Matthew's lazy day. They were laying on their couch, both eating their own bowls of ice-cream (it was noon, so it was okay). When Matthew noticed what Francis insisted on watching, he stared at him with a look that clearly said, 'Aw come on, Francis.'
"This show? You must've watched it a thousand times already, let's watch something else," Matthew said.
Holding Matthew close, Francis was easily convinced and agreed they would watch something else, as long as both liked the show or movie. Matthew changed the channel to one Francis clearly knew, and soon his smile faded too, and Francis was giving Matthew the same look he gave him just a few minutes ago.
Matthew noticed 'The Look', and said, "Oh come on! We haven't seen this in a long time."
Francis scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Oui, because I tried my very best to prevent us from watching it," he said, snatching the remote from Matthew's hands.
Matthew, quickly seeing the notion, shook his head quickly and said, "Non, don't change the channel, Francis. Ne pas changer le chaîne, Francis Bonnefoy!*"
If it wasn't for the fact that it was their lazy Sunday and they were fighting for the TV remote, Francis would've thought that Matthew's French was very attractive.
"Je devoir changer le chaîne*~" Francis said, in a flirtatious way.
Matthew pouted in the most adorable way, and asked, "Are you trying to allure me with your French, Frenchie?"
Francis chuckled a bit at that, and replied, "Maybe, maybe not~"
While Francis was trying (and succeeding) to flirt with Matthew, Matthew had the chance to go and grab the remote. He quickly changed the channel to the show they were previously watching. When Matthew was too engrossed in what he was watching, Francis took that as the appropriate time to slide his hand around Matthew's waist and grab that adorable tush of his.
"Eeek!" Matthew squealed, shocked by the feeling of the hand that sneakily grabbed his bottom. "Francis!" He scolded, blushing a very bright red color. He hit Francis's arm lightly, and glared at him. Francis smirked, changing the channel.
"You can have more of that later on, mon cher~" Francis teased, causing Matthew's cheeks to flare up.
"Hush up, you perverted man!" Matthew scolded, his cheeks still heating up. It wasn't unusual for Francis to tease him and such, but Matthew was still not used to anyone doing anything like that to him (mainly because he hadn't had much love interests, Francis being the longest-lasting one).
They ended up cuddling, watching a show they both liked. Matthew didn't notice when Francis took a picture of both of them, him holding Matthew so lovingly.
Francis smirked to himself, and Matthew scoffed, having caught that smirk. Then, Francis took out the last picture. It was a picture of roses on the right side, three little candles, and a ring inside a box in the middle. It was supposed to be the day he proposed.
"It was amazing, Francis. I never got to say thank you for that," Matthew said, a sad smile taking place of his happy one.
Francis didn't look at all happy. He remembered that day too well.
Seeing Francis's pain-stricken face made something in Matthew's heart twist. It hurt to see him like this. So, he gave him a kiss on the cheek with a small smile.
He was lighting up the candles, ready for his lover to come home. Today, Matthew was going to be let out of the hospital.
After lighting all the candles up (there were only three, anyway), he placed a bouquet of roses on the side of them. He took a picture, as a reminder that today was going to be the day he would propose to his one and only true love. He smiled, heart racing. Proposing was never easy.
He shook the photo, which was still not clearing up. Suddenly, his phone rang. Too eager to actually look at who called him, Francis said, "Oui, Bonnefoy speaking."
The person on the other line was Alfred F. Jones, and Francis could tell by his voice that something was going to go wrong. On the other line, there was sound of sobs, sniffles, and muffled and quivering voices.
"It's Matthew," Alfred started. Francis's face fell immediately, dreading what was to come next. "He's... Gone. Forever."
"What.." That was the only word he could muster before hanging up and nearly running to where Alfred said they were at.
Tears were cascading down Francis's face after that memory, it bringing such a painful feeling in his chest. The pain was unbearable, and even after two years, he still couldn't get over it. Earlier this morning, after work, he hadn't gone straight home. He had visited Matthew's grave again after so long. He told himself that this was not how you stop loving someone.
It was strange to the others. Usually Francis was the expert on love, but once he lost his one and truly only love, he didn't know what to do with himself. He was a big, hopeless mess.
Earlier This Morning
"Bonjour, Matthieu. Comment va-tu, l'amour?" Francis had just arrived at the cemetery, and there was a melancholy feeling in the atmosphere.
"I hope you're doing fine. I miss you more than words can say. Life is just not the same without you, mon cher. Your brother's been clumsier than usual, and he hasn't been the usual cheery self he was before. Arthur's trying his best to comfort him, but not much is working. Our pastry shop isn't really going well, some customers have noticed that the pastries aren't as lively than usual. Of course, that's my fault. Je suis désolé, mon amour, but it's just so hard to live without you," Francis said, gingerly placing a beautiful red rose on top of Matthew's grave stone.
If only leukemia hadn't taken away his one and only true love, then maybe they could've gotten married and continued living a life full of happiness, love, and passion.
I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing this! The words/phrases that are marked with an asterisk (*) are words that I used wordreferance with. I'm not too sure how wordreferance works, but, please forgive me if the statement is incorrect. Thank you~!
Translations:
Bonjour, l'amour - French - Hello, love
mon cher - French - My dear
Joyeux Anniversaire, Francis! - French - Happy Birthday, Francis!
Non, non, - French - No, no,
Oui, oui - French - Yes, yes
Ne pas changer le chaîne, Francis Bonnefoy! - French - Do not change the channel, Francis Bonnefoy!
Je devoir changer le chaîne~ - French- I will change the channel, Matthew Williams~
Bonjour, Matthieu. Comment va-tu, l'amour? - French - Hello, Matthew. How are you?
Je suis désolé, mon amour - French - I'm sorry, my love
I think that's all that needs to be translated. Again, thanks for reading everyone!
P.S. Thanks a whole bunch to Heroic Panda for beta-ing this! Seriously, though, it's better than before at some parts! I could tell how much better it got! Psst, guys, go read her fanfics, they're great! Fantastic! I'vereadbothSpamanoonesonlysin ceIdon'treallylikeUSUKbye
Leave a review for me, please?
