Arthur shuffled out of bed at the first ring of his alarm clock, opening his blinds and letting the rare sunshine stream in. It was a bright Wednesday morning, making him wince as looked around his room. Despite the neatness of his apartment, his bedroom was the one place he let things fall where they may, stacking books and other things all over the floor. He strode over to his closet, stripping out of his pyjamas and picking out a green jumper with slacks. Standing in front of the mirror, he sighed.
"Really? A jumper? Mon amour, you know those things are hideous, oui?"
"Shut up, they're comfortable! What do you know anyways?" Arthur huffed, picking up the pillow and throwing it at the other man's head.
Francis whined, pouting from the bed. "That wasn't fair~ I was trying to save you the embarrassment of being a fashion crisis! See if I give you advice again."
"Honestly, no more advice? Brilliant, we'll go out and celebrate this joyous moment. But I'm going to be late for work, so it'll have to be later."
"Très drôle." Francis retorted sarcastically, standing up lazily and moved towards Arthur. He gave him a quick kiss, smiling. "Aurevoir. Have a good day, and I will be sure to burn the other jumpers while your gone."
Arthur grumbled but returned the kiss. "You'd better be out of here before I get back, you lazy frog. And if you touch my jumpers so help me!" With that he took off, looking down at his jumper. There was nothing wrong with them…
Snapping out of his thoughts, Arthur finished getting ready. Brushing his hair and teeth, he grabbed his coat and scarf. It was his day off, a day where he could finally relax and have some bloody peace and quiet. His favourite café was only a few blocks away from his flat in London, and they always served the bet tea.
Picking up his ipod, he put his headphones in for the walk. It was nice to block out the noise for a while. He had just walked out of the building when he hit shuffle, the first song coming on and hitting him like a ton of bricks. Today just wasn't his day, clearly. But he let it play, let himself get lost again as he had so many times the past eight months.
"Like HELL I'm turning it down, it's the Sex Pistols. You can just get out if you don't like it you stupid git!"
"You are impossible! This music is dégoûtant! Have some taste for once. Mon Dieu, it's amazing how much I put up with for you. "
"What YOU put up with FOR ME? That's it-" Before Arthur can continue, Francis has him wrapped into his arms, lips on his. "What are you doing?!"
"This is a distraction from the music~ Then we are both a happy, oui?"
"You think you can solve everything like this." Arthur glared, but didn't pull away.
"Well, it's worked so far~ Je t'aime, mon petit lapin."
Biting his lip, Arthur hits the next button. He doesn't want to finish the song, to remember anymore. He didn't want to start crying in the streets like a maniac. Besides, he'd done enough crying over it. Francis just wasn't worth it anymore. But still, every time he tried to push the thoughts of him away, they came back harder and stronger. He still wasn't sure what went wrong, what he'd done to bugger things up so badly.
He was about a block from the café before he checked his phone. No new messages, so he assumed they were still meeting for an early lunch. But he would be right on time, as always, while a certain American was probably going to be late as usual. He shook his head.
Passing by a young couple, his chest tightened. It was easier now that it had been, but that didn't mean he was over it completely. Arthur quickly reminded himself that love wasn't worth it, and that he should feel sorry for that couple. Because you never knew when one day someone would take a knife to your back, giving excuses and apologies. Because you never knew when they'd conveniently fall for some Spaniard and take off, leaving you behind. England decided he was definitely better off this way.
He pulled off his headphones and shoved them in his pocket, shutting his music off. To his surprise, Alfred was already there and he waved, with that huge grin on his face. It was contagious, and Arthur found himself giving him a small smile in return before going over and sitting down.
"Hey dude, about time! I was gonna start eating without you. Anyways, I watched this really cool movie yesterday. You have to see it!" Alfred launched into a very animated discussion on the action/comedy he'd just seen, laughing like a child when he got to the funnier parts. "You know what? We should go see a movie together next time, then I don't have to explain it to you!"
"It sounds a bit silly, honestly. Probably not my type of film…" Arthur's hesitant, reluctant to accept the invitation. He's not quite sure he could handle that. It's too much like a date, and Alfred had already wormed his way into being Arthur's friend. How that had happened, he couldn't even recall. One moment they were strangers in the line, and the next they were sitting together at the café almost every day it seemed.
"Aw, come on, you'll really like it. I promise!"
"I don't know." And just as Arthur was going to bring up Francis, explain why he just couldn't, Alfred continued on, making the plans anyways. And for the first time, Arthur was content to forget about it and let the past stay in the past.
"…So it's settled! Saturday at eight, I'll come by and we'll grab a taxi to the theater."
"…Fine, fine. I'll go, just this once."
"Really? Awesome! But uh… We'll have to go halvesies, I'm sorta low on money until my next paycheck. Heh, sorry..."
Arthur found himself letting out a small chuckle. This man was completely bizarre, but Arthur couldn't help meeting him over and over again. And as they said goodbye, Alfred wrapped Arthur in a bear hug before waving and dashing off.
Arthur couldn't say for sure, but he didn't think his face could've turned any redder. He grumbled and shouted an obscenity at Alfred, but the other just laughed at kept going. "Honestly…" Arthur mutter, but he was smiling.
And for the first time in eight months, he acknowledged that maybe, just maybe, love didn't always hurt.
But on a Wednesday, in a cafe
I watched it begin again