Francis slipped through the bushes in the forest into a clearing he frequently visited. Oh how he just loved coming here. It gave him peace of mind and the quiet he oh so wished for that he didn't have at home.
His parents always fought, usually over little things, like who would drive Francis to school, who would pick him up, who would prepare dinner, who would clean out the cat's litter box. Francis didn't really see why they fought about those things. The eight year old always walked to and from school, he usually made himself dinner since his parents worked late at night, so they were usually asleep around dinner time. Francis was the one who always cleaned out the cat's litter box. His father said that since the cat was his, he was the one who had to clean up after it.
Francis looked around the clearing, smiling softly, taking in the scenery that was familiar to him. The gentle slope of the hill, the plush green grass, the beautiful flowers of blue and red and gold the bloomed all around, the ivy climbing up the trunks of the oaks and junipers and pines, the kudzu lazily hanging onto the tree branches, the weeping willow tree in the center of the clearing that provided shade beneath the boughs. The moss growing at the base of the trees, the golden sun that shone into the clearing, the soft-looking, fluffy white clouds that drifted along slowly in the sky.
This clearing, it was so peaceful, so soothing, so relaxing. It made the young boy want to stay here forever. Just sprawl out in the soft green grass and enjoy the sun on his skin.
That's when Francis noticed some movement underneath the boughs of the weeping willow tree. His curiosity taking over, the young boy slowly walked towards the aforementioned tree.
When he reached the tree, he slowly pushed the boughs aside and peered into the dimmer lighting to see what was there. He was a bit surprised at what he saw. There was a boy, not much younger than he, maybe two or three years younger, curled up with his eyes closed. He appeared to be sleeping. Francis slipped underneath the tree, the boughs swinging back into place behind him as he slowly crawled over to the small boy.
He sat on his knees next to him, looking him over curiously. The boy had unruly blonde hair and ridiculously thick eyebrows. The boy wore a loose green t-shirt and a pair of loose jeans with a pair of worn out shoes. Francis found the boy….cute. But, despite being as cute as Francis believed he was, the boy was unhealthily skinny. It was easy to see his bones poking against his skin. A soft frown formed on Francis's face at the sight of this.
Francis froze when the boy shifted and his eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing beautiful emerald green orbs. The strange boy slowly focused his eyes on Francis. He squeaked and scrambled backwards, but ended up toppling over due to being only half awake. "Why-who are you?!", he managed to rasp out. Francis frowned. He could tell just how weak he was. But, he didn't want to scare him anymore than he already had. "My name is Francis Bonnefoy.", Francis said softly, trying not to frighten him. "What's yours?" The boy looked at him skeptically for a moment before answering.
"Arthur. Arthur Kirkland.", he said in response, his voice shaking slightly. Whether it was from fear or due to being weak, Francis wasn't sure. Francis gave him a friendly smile in hopes of getting the boy, Arthur, to relax, even just a tiny bit. "It's nice to meet you Arthur." The emerald-eyed boy said nothing and just looked Francis over.
After a moment of silence, Francis spoke again. "Um… What are you doing out here, all by yourself?" "I could ask you the same thing.", Arthur replied snappily.
Francis looked down. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to know why you were out here. I've never seen you, or anyone, here before. I wanted to know if you were okay.", he said softly. Francis glanced up at Arthur before quickly looking back down. "I guess I'll go now.", he said, slowly moving to leave the space beneath the weeping willow.
"Wait!", Arthur said, before slapping a hand over his own mouth. Francis paused and looked over at Arthur. The younger of the two was looking at the ground. "I meant, you can stay, if you want." Francis blinked and smiled slightly. "Alright."
Later that day, as the sun turned from a golden yellow, to a golden orange, splashing oranges and pinks and purples across the sky, Francis was about ready to leave the peacefully clearing with the willow tree. Francis looked over to where Arthur stood. He felt bad about leaving him here with no place to go.
Francis hesitated. "Um, Arthur?" Arthur slowly looked over at the taller boy. "Yes?" Francis hesitated once again, taking a deep breath before saying, "I know you have no place to stay… But, will you come stay at my home with me. So you'll have proper shelter and you'll be fed and clothed." Francis looked at Arthur and watched as he face slowly formed a shocked expression.
Francis then saw the hesitant look on his face. "Please Arthur! You'll be safe! I promise!" Arthur let out a sigh, giving in. "Okay, I'll go with you." Francis's lips twitched upward in a small smile. "Great! Follow me!" Francis said happily. He waited for Arthur to walk over before he led him across the clearing and into the surrounding forest.
Francis remained quiet, listening as the fallen leaves and twigs crunched and snapped under their feet. Every now and then, the blue-eyed boy would glance back at Arthur to make sure he was following and that he was keeping up.
They were almost to Francis's home when Arthur tripped over some briars and fell. Francis looked over and rushed over to help him, only to find that Arthur had somehow tangled himself in the vines. Francis knelt down next to him. "Hold still, I'll get you out.", Francis said softly and slowly started trying to untangle the briars and free his friend. That's when he heard growling nearby.
Francis paused in his work and looked around, eyes widening when he saw a fairly large fox. Francis quickly looked around and grabbed a large stick. He then got to his feet. The eldest of the two boys put himself between the fox and his friend stuck in the briars. Francis, as scared as he was, didn't show his fear as he held the stick out defensively.
Francis's hand shook slightly, but he kept on a determined face. The fox growled louder, letting out a savage snarl. On the inside, Francis was terrified, but he had to protect his friend. Francis tensed when the fox lunged for him. In one swift movement, Francis hit the fox upside the head with the stick, sending the fox tumbling over. With a yelp, the fox scrambled to its paws and darted off.
Francis quickly dropped the stick and rushed to his friend's side. Arthur's eyes were wide and full of fear. Francis hurriedly unwrapped the briars from around his legs and helped the smaller boy up. "Let's hurry.", Francis said.
Soon, the two boys arrived at Francis's home. Francis lived in a nice home. It was a two story, old farmhouse with a nice white paint. There were flowerbeds along the front of the porch, full of roses and lamb's ear and black-eyed Susan's. The lawn had freshly cut, green grass. There were two large oak trees in the middle of the yard.
Francis gave Arthur a small smile and led him across the yard, up the porch steps and to the door. Francis went inside, but Arthur didn't follow. The older looked back at the younger. "What's wrong? You can come in.", he said. Arthur hesitated, but then followed Francis indoors.
Francis gave him a smile and led him down the hall to the kitchen. The French boy peeked into the kitchen. "Maman? Papa?" His father looked up from his paperwork at the kitchen table and his mother looked over from where she was preparing dinner. His father went back to doing his paperwork.
Francis's mother gave a soft smile. "You're home Francis. Where were you?" "I was just spending time with my new friend.", Francis said in response. "A new friend? All the way out here, so far from town. Hm… What's your friend's name?", his mother asked. "His name's Arthur." Francis stepped into the kitchen, then looked back at the smaller boy. "Come on, don't be shy." Arthur slowly came into the kitchen, looking down. "This is Arthur.", Francis said.
His father once again looked up from his work. "Oh dear! You poor thing, you're so thin!" Francis's mother hurried over and knelt down next to Arthur, then began fussing over him. "Maman, please stop. You're going to make him uncomfortable. Besides, you wouldn't want dinner to burn.", Francis said. She stood up, nodding. "You're right.", she then went back to making dinner.
Francis looked over at Arthur, before back at his parents. "Maman, Papa. Arthur has no place to stay. May he stay here?" "We'll have to think about it, Francis.", his father said before his mother could say anything. Francis nodded. "Okay." He looked over at Arthur. "Come on, Arthur, let's go get you bathed and into some clean clothes." He gave Arthur a smile and led him out of the kitchen, down the hall, and up the stairs. He led him from the top of the stairs to the room at the end of the hall. Francis opened the door and walked inside, followed by Arthur.
Francis's room was spacious. There were two beds in the room. One had sheets and blankets on it, obviously it was the one Francis used. The other was bare. It was just a spare. There was a dresser with Francis's clothes and a closet. There was a small chest at the foot of Francis's bed. Francis went over to the chest and opened it, then got out some of his old clothes for Arthur. Francis walked back over to where Arthur waited at the door and smiled at him. "Come with me, I'll show you were the bathroom is." Francis led Arthur out of the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom. Francis turned to him with a smile. "Just come downstairs, to the kitchen, when you've finished." Arthur nodded. "Okay."
Francis left the bathroom and went back downstairs, and to the kitchen. He greeted his parents and climbed up into a chair at the kitchen table.
Years later, Francis was a junior in high school and Arthur was a freshman. Arthur now lived with Francis, and the Frenchman couldn't be happier. Francis gave Arthur a smile. "I'll see you later, Arthur." Arthur nodded. "Alright, see you, Francis." The two went off their separate ways, to their first class of the day. Francis walked down the hall towards the science hall, to his class. He went inside and put his things down. He then went to go walk around and talk with his friends until classes started.
He was talking with his two best friends, Gilbert and Antonio, when there was a lot of commotion at the other end of the hall, and the teachers started running down there. Usually, Francis didn't bother when there were fights at school, but something felt wrong. And he didn't like it. He ran off, towards the other end of the hall, where all of the commotion was coming from. When he got there, he was shocked at what he saw. The biggest bully, also the tallest person, in the school was there, towering over a small shaking form on the floor, yelling. Once Francis's eyes landed on the person on the floor, he froze. It was Arthur. The bully brought his hand back, ready to unleash his wrath on Arthur. Francis jumped between them. "Leave him alone!", he snapped, glaring at the bully.
Not a second later, and Francis was too on the cold tile floor of the hallway with a now aching cheek. Everyone went quiet. Francis slowly pushed himself off of the floor and moved over to where Arthur was. "Arthur, are you okay?", Francis asked, trying to ignore the throbbing his in his face. Arthur slowly looked up at Francis and nodded, then frowned. He could see the bruise forming on Francis's face. Francis pulled Arthur into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I don't know what the hell you did or what happened, just don't do it again.", the Frenchmen muttered, holding him tight. Arthur blinked, the slowly hugged back, burying his face in Francis's shoulder and sniffling lightly. He didn't register just how scared he had been until now. Arthur shook and trembled, sobbing softly as he held onto Francis just as tightly as Francis held him.
For a while, the two sat there, embracing each other and holding one another close, not daring to let go in fear of something bad happening. After a while, they finally pulled apart, both reluctant to let go of the other. Arthur frowned when he saw the large bruise forming on Francis's cheek. Arthur hugged him once again. "Thank you, Francis."
Some years later, Francis was now twenty-five and living on his own, well, with Arthur of course. Francis was sitting on the couch, waiting for Arthur to get home. He had been doing some serious thinking, and finally decided what he would do. In a complete silence, he waiting for Arthur, the blonde Brit he had always loved, to come home.
Soon enough, the blonde Brit walked in the door, a bit surprised when he noticed just how quiet it was. It was only this quiet when Francis wasn't home, and Francis was home, so he was a bit confused. He walked into the living room and saw Francis sitting on the couch. "Hello, Francis.", he said. Francis looked over and smiled. "Bonjour Arthur." Francis stood and walked over to him. "I have something to tell you."
Arthur nodded. "Alright, what is it?" Francis stood in front of him and gently grabbed both of Arthur's hands, holding them in his own. "Arthur…" Francis bit his lip for a moment, pausing to think about whether or not he really wanted to go through with it. "Arthur, I….J-Je…Je t'aime.", Francis said softly, looking down with a blush. A bright red blush bloomed across Arthur's face, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth upwards. "I-I love you too, Francis.", he whispered out. Francis's own smile spread across his lips and he pulled Arthur into a loving embrace, holding the other close in a gentle hold.
For a while, they just stood there, embracing each other, feeling content with one another's company. With the loving air surrounding them and being together, they couldn't be happier. That's when Francis realized, he had been in love from the beginning.