Toujours Ensemble
Francis Bonnefoy watched as his two best friends Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo and Gilbert Beilschimdt ordered their drinks from a pretty bartender. Sadly, he just had to pick the shortest straw and be the designated driver. Francis sighed. He never had the best of luck anyways.
"Gracias senorita!" Antonio said with his usual grin as the bartender gave him and Gilbert their drinks. The bartender blushed and nodded as she went on to serve the next person. Francis watched as Antonio took a sip from his glass of wine. Francis sighed again. He craving wine so much and it didn't help that Antonio was drinking it.
"Kesesesese! It would've been so much more fun if you were drinking too Franny!" Gilbert said as he took a swig from his mug of beer. "Too bad that your cousin umm…what's his face…uhh…Mark Willows?"
"Mathieu. Mathieu Williams." Francis supplied helpfully.
"Right! Matthew. It was too bad he couldn't drive us tonight." Gilbert said taking another swig.
"Well, he did have to go back to Canada for awhile right?" Antonio asked.
"Oui. His poor Maman had gotten sick," Francis said. "My poor tante. She is such a sweet, beautiful woman. Mathieu takes so much after her."
"Speaking of beautiful people, there's my Lovi!" Antonio looked eagerly at the Italian that entered into the bar. "Hasta luego amigos!" Gilbert and Francis laughed as the Spaniard tackled the poor Italian down.
"Poor kid chose the wrong night to come." Commented Gilbert. Francis nodded.
"I do agree but, the ways of l'amour are quite powerful." Francis said cheekily. Gilbert looked questioningly at him.
"Huh…? What's that supposed to mean?" Francis sighed.
"It means that a certain Italian called Lovino Vargas must've subconsciously sensed that his boyfriend, our cher Antonio, was here and he decided to come here based on that!" Francis explained. Gilbert shook his head.
"You Frenchies are weird. All that talk about la more-"
"L'amour."
"And wine drinking, everyone knows beer is much better! Even Mark-"
"Mathieu."
"Matthew thinks so!" Gilbert said chugging the last of his beer.
"Mathieu has lived in Canada too long. He has not had the taste of French wine for a long time. Besides, he says buying wine before every game of l'hockey is very expensive." Francis retorted.
"What's lockey?"
"It means hockey in the pervert's language potato bastard number two." Said a voice with an Italian accent. Francis and Gilbert turned to see Antonio with his arm around Lovino.
"Lovino, your vocabulary is as pleasant as always." Francis greeted. Lovino scowled.
"I come in here for a drink and I run into you bozos. My night is officially ruined." Lovino grumbled.
"Aww Lovi! Don't say that yet! I'll make it better…" Antonio leaned close to the Italian. "At home." Lovino blushed and pushed him away.
"D-don't say things like that, chigi!" Lovino pouted at his boyfriend.
"Aww, so cute! You look like a tomato!" Antonio cooed while hugging the Italian. Francis chuckled. He heard the chime of the bar door ring and he turned his head to see a small blonde male walk in. His eyes were green, not like Antonio's emerald eyes but, green like the needles of an evergreen tree. His face was cute, even with the ridiculous eyebrows above his eyes. Francis could tell his figure was small through the blue t-shirt under the white sweater vest and the beige trousers that went with them. Francis watched as the man took sat down at a table not too far from where he was sitting.
"Hey Franny, who ya looking at?" Gilbert asked.
"The cute blonde guy with the thick eyebrows over there." Francis said pointing to the blonde. Gilbert followed Francis's gaze and nodded with approval.
"He's cute alright but, he seems more of your type anyways." Gilbert said. Antonio looked over to where his two best friends were looking.
"Why don't you go after him mi amigo? You only have one life you know." Antonio said.
"Says the guy who took five years to ask me out." Lovino muttered. Antonio laughed and hugged his boyfriend again.
"Toni is right. We're getting older by the minute!" Gilbert said.
"Mon ami, we are only twenty three." Francis said. "And twenty-one." He added as Lovino glared at him.
"And we're not getting younger so, go get him!" Gilbert said pushing Francis out of his chair and towards the man.
'Time to turn on the French charm.' Francis thought as he approached the table. "May I take a seat?" he asked. Francis noticed a glass of ale in the man's hand.
"Go ahead. I'm here alone anyways." The man said. Francis noticed the man's thick British accent. "Oh, by the way, I'm Arthur Kirkland." He added holding out his hand. Francis took it and kissed it. The Brit blushed to Francis's relief. This was usually the point where he would get punched in the face.
"Enchanté. I'm Francis Bonnefoy." Francis said with a wink. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gilbert and Antonio give him a thumbs up. "So, what's a cute man like you doing here alone?"
"I would usually be here with my adopted brother Alfred but, he had to accompany his boyfriend to Canada." Arthur answered.
"Really? What a coincidence, my dear cousin also went to Canada. He is usually our designated driver when my friends and I decide to go out." Francis said.
"What part of Canada did he go to?" asked Arthur curiously.
"First, he went to his Ottawa to check his house and now he's in Quebec City taking care of his mother." Francis said. Arthur's eyes widen.
"How odd. Alfred said he was going to Ottawa and Quebec City to do the exact same things with his boyfriend...hmm…Your cousin…is his name Matthew Williams by any chance?"
"Why yes, that would be his name." Francis said. "Why do you ask?" Arthur started to laugh.
"Well, that's because that's Alfred's boyfriend's name!" Arthur said with a boyish grin. Francis laughed too. The Brit before him was just too cute! Francis knew that he couldn't let this guy go. But just as he was about to write his number down on a napkin, he heard a familiar, but drunk, laugh.
"Kesesesese! Time to PARTAY!" Gilbert yelled as he climbed atop of a table and started to dance. Francis twitched in annoyance. Then, he saw a very drunk Antonio chase around a pissed-off, but sober, Lovino. Francis turned to Arthur.
"I'm sorry, I have to go. My two friends have seemed to reach their alcohol limits." Francis said getting up. Then, he felt a small hand grabbing his.
"Umm…wait!" Francis looked down to see Arthur blushing furiously. "Umm…here." He jammed a piece of paper into Francis's hand.
"Thank you, mon cher." Francis said giving his best smile to the Brit and putting the paper in his pocket. Arthur blushed harder and ordered more ale as Francis walked away. Gilbert looked at his friend as he danced.
"Hey Franny! Are you joining me too?" He asked with a drunken grin.
"Non. I'm taking you home." Francis said pulling the self-proclaimed Prussian off the table and knocking him out.
"PERVERT! SAVE ME!" Lovino screamed hiding behind Francis. Antonio was charging towards them.
"LOVI~!" He called. Francis sighed and caught Antonio by the collar and knocked him out too. The bartender stood terrified. Francis gave her a charming smile.
"Don't worry cheri, I didn't kill them." Francis said. "I just did you a favour and made them go to sleep." As if on cue, Gilbert started to snore. "See? They are perfectly fine." Francis paid the bartender and walked out dragging Gilbert while Lovino dragged out Antonio.
"I'll take the tomato bastard to my house." Lovino said stuffing Antonio into his car.
"Alright then Lovino. Good luck!" Francis said as he dumped Gilbert in the back seat of his car. As Lovino drove away, he noticed that Antonio's foot was sticking out the window of the backseat. He chuckled and shook his head as he saw his shoe fall off. Then, he remembered the paper Arthur had given him. Reaching into his pocket, he read the paper and smiled at what it said.
Arthur Kirkland
Home: 274-8246
Cell: 364-5263
(A/N: Arthur's home phone means Britain and the cell means England. Don't believe me? Look on your home phone/cell phone and follow the numbers. There should be 3-4 letters under each number.)
Arthur Kirkland woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He cursed and threw his pillow at his cell. Alfred had been calling him every five minutes since last night. When the phone kept ringing, Arthur got out of bed and picked up the phone.
"Alfred you bloody git, stop calling me and let me get some sleep!" he yelled. Then, he heard a chuckle from the other end.
"Ohohohohon cher, is that anyway to greet somebody?" A deep voice with a French accent said on the other end. Arthur felt his face heat up.
"Francis Bonnefoy?"
"Oui. I'm surprised you remembered. After all, we only met a night ago." Francis said.
"I wasn't that drunk so of course I remember." Arthur said. "Anyways, what are you doing calling me at this ungodly hour?"
"It's eight o'clock."
"On a Saturday morning."
"True but, it's quite important." Arthur could just hear the smirk in his voice.
"Well, pray tell, frog."
"Frog? That's new…"
"What's your question?" Arthur asked annoyed. Maybe he shouldn't have given the Frenchman his number.
"Do you want to have lunch with me today?" Arthur felt his face flush.
"Umm…okay…" He mumbled. 'C'mon Arthur, don't get too excited. He didn't say it was a date.'
"Magnifique! Meet me at the Café Sverige at noon." Francis said with palpable excitement. "They have the best cakes there and then we can go for a walk-"
"H-hey! Don't get too excited!" Arthur said. "Plus, it'll be my first time at that café. I don't know any of the food there."
"How could I not? I'm going on a date with a cute man. And don't worry about the food. I'll order for the both of us." Francis said. "Anyways, a plus tard Arthur."
"Umm…goodbye." Arthur hung up. His heart was racing furiously. Francis said it was a date! He flopped back down on his bed. He was finally going on a date. Then, a thought struck him.
"Oh bloody hell, what am I going to wear!" Arthur yelled jumping off his bed. He ran to his closet and started tearing through it. He sighed when he couldn't find anything. He sat down on his bed again. He picked up one of his many stuff toys. This one was a mint green bunny with wings.
"What do you think I should wear Flying Mint Bunny?" Arthur asked. He stared into the rabbit's black eyes. He sighed and shook his head. Talking to stuff toys won't help! He looked at his cell phone and opened it. He looked at the top three numbers.
"Allistor, Cailean and Dylan. Dear lord, I'm going to regret this." Arthur said as he dialled the dreaded numbers.
"ARTIE!" Arthur felt a vein in his head throb when he heard his front door being knocked down. He took a sip from his tea and a bite from his scone to calm himself down. Two red headed men and a blond man entered his kitchen.
"You wankers, I told you so many times not to knock down my door! You're going to fix that." Arthur said sullenly.
"Well, hello to you too Arthur." The blond that walked in said. "Just to let you know, it was Allistor."
"Traitor!" said the tallest redhead. The smaller red head sighed.
"Artie, we're sorry." He said.
"I don't care if you're sorry or not Cailean, just get my bloody door fixed." Arthur said rubbing his temples. Allistor sat down.
"Now Artie, what's the occasion of you calling us?" He asked. "It's not like you to invite us over. Actually, you NEVER invite us. We have to barge our way in all the time."
"Well, it's umm…" Arthur looked down and started twiddling with his thumbs while a blush rose to his cheeks. The three older brothers looked at each other in confusion.
"Artie? Are you okay?" Dylan asked slowly.
"Well…I sort of got asked out-"
"BY WHO? WHEN?" Allistor yelled slamming his hands on the table.
"By this guy at the bar named-"
"Artie! Didn't we tell you not to talk to strangers?" Cailean scolded.
"Francis Bonnefoy-"
"Artie…this guy sounds French…don't you hate the French?" Dylan asked. Arthur shot up from his seat.
"STOP INTERRUPTING ME YOU BLOODY GITS AND LISTEN TO ME! I CALLED YOU HERE BECAUSE I HAVE A DATE AND I NEED HELP PICKING CLOTHES! SO IF YOU WANKERS ARE DONE I NEED HELP GETTING READY BY NOON THANK YOU!" Arthur yelled. His brothers looked at Arthur then looked at each other. Allistor sighed and ran a hand through his red hair.
"Okay, fine we'll help you." Allistor said.
"WHY WON'T YOU-you said yes?" Arthur looked at his brother dumbly. "Why, thank you. And no following me when I leave." Dylan smiled.
"Anything for our little brother! Now, let's go look through your closet…"
Francis's jaw nearly dropped as he saw his date cross the street. He had on a black waistcoat over a dark green dress shirt that matched his eyes, a white tie and black skinny jeans. He looked down at his own attire. He didn't do too badly. He had on a white dress shirt and black dress pants. He smiled as Arthur walked in. Francis waved him over.
"Arthur, you look quite lovely today." Francis said getting up and kissing Arthur on both cheeks. Francis chuckled as the Brit blushed.
"Thank you. You look nice too." Arthur said looking away. It took Francis almost all his strength not to hug and grope Arthur right there and then.
'Come on Francis, you have to control yourself. He's not like all those other men and women you've dated.' Francis told himself. He composed himself and pulled a chair for Arthur. "Here cher, sit down." Arthur nodded.
"Thank you." Francis smiled at the blush that was on Arthur's cheeks. It was extremely adorable!
"De rien cher. Anyways, how's Alfred? By your greeting this morning, I guess that he's been calling you a lot?
"Alfred's fine and yes he has been calling me a lot. In fact, from the moment I got home last night, he called me and all he could talk about was Matthew."
"Ahh, my dear cousin has had quite an effect on him hasn't he? Your Alfred has had quite on my Mathieu too. He's been happier lately. Although I am a bit disappointed with him for not telling me about Alfred."
"Don't worry, he'll tell you when the time comes. Hopefully you don't have to do what I did."
"And that was…?"
"Buy Alfred a weeks worth of McDonalds burgers." Arthur said gritting his teeth together. Francis laughed.
"Well, if Mathieu gets to that point, I'll make him French crepes and pancakes." Francis said. Arthur snorted and smiled.
"Okay, if that's what you want to do. You'll be broke." Arthur said. A silence filled the air. After a minute or so, Francis spoke.
"So, since we're on a date and my cousin and your brother are dating I say we get to know each other." Francis said. "What's your favourite colour?"
"Green. Yours?"
"Red, the colour of love and passion." Francis said winking. Arthur shook his head.
"Of course a Frenchie like you would say that." Arthur said. Francis laughed.
"And let me guess, a British man like you would those incredibly bland things like tea and scones?"
"Hey! Those are actually good!" Arthur said glaring. Then his facial features soften. "Ha, Alfred said the same thing when I first baked scones for him."
"I don't blame him." Francis muttered under his breath.
"Okay now…place of birth?" Arthur asked. Francis smiled, remembering his birthplace.
"Paris, France. And yours?"
"London, England."
"Hmm…I could've guessed that."
"I could say the same for you. Do you have any brothers, sisters or both?"
"No. I'm an only child but sweet Mathieu is like my little brother." Francis said smiling. "How about you? Any other brothers or sisters?"
"Yes actually. I have three older brothers and two younger brothers including Alfred." Arthur said. Francis looked at him with interest.
"Really? What a big family. What are their names?" Francis asked eagerly.
"My oldest brother's name is Allistor. He was born in Scotland. Then it's Cailean who is born in Northern Ireland. Dylan was born in Wales. Obviously I'm next and you know where I'm born already so then there's Alfred who was born in New York City, America but he came to live with us when I was about seven. Lastly there's Peter who was born in this little Island thing off the coast of Britain. I think it was called Sealand." Arthur said. Francis looked at him with wide eyes.
"Mon Dieu, it seems your parents liked to travel if all of you were born in different places." Francis said. Arthur nodded.
"Yes they do. Right now they're in some place called Seaborga." Arthur shook his head. "Everytime they hear about a new place, they arrange to go there immediately. Poor Peter. He's only twelve and I bet that he hardly gets to see them. Good thing he lives with a family friend of ours or he would never finish school."
"Peter is twelve? How old are your other brothers?"
"Allistor is about twenty-seven, Cailean's twenty-six, Dylan just turned twenty-four, I'm twenty-two and Alfred's nineteen." Arthur said. "Now your turn. How old are you?"
"I'm twenty three. And-" Francis looked sharply at a figure coming towards them. It was a boy about twelve that had a face similar to Arthur's. "Is that your brother?"
"Huh?" Arthur followed Francis's gaze and groaned. "Bloody hell, it's Peter."
"ARTIE! It's me! Aren't you glad to see me?" Peter asked as he jumped onto Arthur's lap and hugged him. Arthur blushed and awkwardly put his arms around his little brother. Francis found that it was incredibly cute how Arthur didn't seem used to physical affection.
"Sure but what are you doing here?"
"Allistor, Cai and Dylan offered to take care of me while Tino and Berwald are running the café! And they said they wanted to see you-" A groan interrupted Peter. All three of Arthur's older brothers came out from their hiding spots. Francis watched as Arthur's blush turned into rage as he pushed Peter off his lap.
"Didn't I tell you prats not to follow me?" Arthur said slowly but dangerously. All four of his brothers backed away.
"Sorry Arthur, we were curious." Dylan said. Arthur stood up. Francis saw that he was shaking.
"Idiots…you can't leave me alone can you?" Arthur said. Cailean looked at his little brother pleadingly.
"Artie please. We were going to leave after a look." Allistor put a hand on both Peter and Cailean's shoulder.
"Yeah! What he said." Arthur clenched his fist and was about to beat up his brothers but Francis stood up and put a hand on the Brit's shoulder.
"Calmez-vous cher. They were just a bit curious." Francis said soothingly. Arthur took a deep breath and sat down.
"I guess I'll let you go this time. But, next time you follow me while I'm on a date, I'll pour boiling hot tea on each of your heads." Arthur said. Arthur's brothers nodded their heads and scrambled out of the café. Then, he turned to Francis. "You know, you're a git for not letting me beat my brothers."
"But you're so tiny cher. I couldn't let you beat those big burly men. And besides, you would get arrested for child abuse if you hit little Peter." Francis said. Arthur sighed.
"Fine frog, you win. Now, since you kept asking questions about my life, now it's my turn." Arthur said smirking. "Now, what's your life story?" Francis smiled and leaned back on his chair with his hands behind his head.
"Well, as I know, I was born in Paris, France. My parents were Louis and Amelie Bonnefoy. They died when I was about four years old."
"Oh, umm…I'm sorry." Arthur said awkwardly. Francis waved it off.
"No, no. That's fine. I was taken in by my wonderful Aunt Madeleine Williams and her incredibly adorable baby son Mathieu. Then when I was about thirteen and Mathieu was ten, we moved here to Boston where I met my best friends Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo and Gilbert Beilschimdt. We were the terrors of the neighbourhood, calling ourselves the 'Bad Touch Trio'." Francis laughed. "Mon Dieu that was the best time of my life. Anyways, shortly after, we all hit puberty and the girls started to look our way. Since then I've dated ten women, five men and I've had one serious relationship out of the fifteen. Her name was Jeanne. I met her when I was sixteen and we were totally in love with each other. But then, she was burnt into ashes in a house fire a year after we started dating. I was seventeen at the time." Francis looked down. "I enrolled in a culinary school right after and now, I have a restaurant called 'Restaurant De Jeanne' in her honour."
"It seems you still love her." Arthur said softly.
"The heart never forgets someone that you have truly loved. But I have finished grieving. Jeanne was important to me but, I cannot linger on the past." Francis said softly. Then he smiled at Arthur. "All I have to do is focus on the present and the present is you." Arthur covered his blush with his hand. Then, a tall intimidating looking man walked up to them.
"May I take your order?" He asked in a Swedish accent. Francis nodded while Arthur's jaw dropped.
"May we have a Princess cake please?" Francis asked. The man nodded and walked away. He turned back to Arthur whose mouth was still hanging open. "Cher, you will swallow flies if you keep your mouth open."
"That was Berwald. The man that Peter is staying with. Dear Lord I knew he and his husband owned a café but I didn't know it was this one!" Arthur exclaimed. "What a small world."
"Yes indeed." Francis said looking at the Brit. He had a feeling that Arthur was something special and that he would continue to see him for a very long time.
There. Chapter one of Toujours Ensemble (Toujours Ensemble means Together Always in French) is done. I hope you enjoyed. Btw, I do not own Hetalia.