Chapter 1: Six Years Later
"Stephanie! You have a letter waiting for you!"
"Stephanie?"
The brunette girl groaned, slowly sitting up in bed to pull a few wild strands of hair from her mouth. "Yeah, I'm up, I'm up! Gimme... Gimme a second..."
"It's from Francis, Stephanie. And I think it's important! Looks like it was sent over night!"
"Slip it under the door." She yawned, stretching before she got out of bed. The letter was quickly slid under her door, and she walked over to retrieve it before returning to her dresser. It was opened carefully, the envelope put in a card holder with all of the previous envelopes from Francis, and the paper unfolded so she could read as she got dressed.
"Ma très chère Stéphanie, I am happy to tell you that I will be arriving in Washington, D.C. very soon to begin attending a nearby college. I have already spoken to your parents, and if you haven't been told yet (which I presume you haven't) I will be staying with you for the duration of my studies, or until some one gets annoyed and kicks me out." she snorted, imagining the look of anger on her father's face that he would no-doubt have the first time Francis paid her any compliment. "I will be arriving there on xx/xx/xxxx, around xxhxx, at Ronald Reagan National Airport, and your parents told me I could take a subway to Union Station and could be met there by you since it is close to where you live? They said if all goes right I should make it there by xxhxx, so would you mind being out front around xxhxx? I would very much appreciate having you there to meet me, ma belle amie. À bientôt! Francis"
"That's when he'll get here?" Stephanie glanced at her clock. "That's in about thirty minutes... Mom, could make me some coffee? I have to go to Union Station! Oh, and thanks for not telling me that my friend will be staying here! I would have cleaned my room!"
"If that's all it took to keep your room clean I would have done it months ago!" her mothers shout was overshadowed by her father's loud laughter, making the girl crack a smile before hurrying to get dressed. She donned some jeans and a black shirt that said "Le Fleur" on it that Francis had sent her a few months before, as well as the blue beret and Fleur dis Lis locket he had sent her in previous years. She glared at her flaking cowboy boots when she finally pulled them on, and made sure to grab the red scarf she had held onto for some many years before she left the room.
"Make sure to take your taser darling!"
"It's in my purse mom." Stephanie muttered, grabbing the falling apart bag and slinging it across her chest. "Coffee?"
Her father handed her a travel mug as he passed, heading for the living room. "Coffee."
"Thanks. I'll be back soon!" She listened to her parents shout out their goodbyes as she shut her front door, sipping on her coffee as she began to walk toward the station. It took her a while, what with the sidewalks being crowded by both locals and tourists alike. Stephanie muttered under her breath, her hand twitching over her purse. She cut her eyes at many a person who got too close for comfort, but finally she made it to Union, and looked up the steps in worry.
While she and her friends had exchanged many things over the past few years, they had never really thought of exchanging photos.
'What if he's changed so much I don't recognize him?' she was beginning to get nervous. 'I should have brought a little sign or something.'
The girl let her eyes leave the station doors for one second as she tried to fight her worry back, though it seemed that she would be the only one who was worried.
"Tiens! Stéphanie!" her gaze shot back up to the station, locking immediately on a familiar looking man as he hurried down the steps, only to drop his two bags beside him and wrap her in a hug.
"Francis! God, you actually kinda scared me!" she held her coffee carefully, trying to make sure it didn't spill on either of them. "And you're here early!"
"The subway was running properly I guess." he smiled, pulling away to look at her properly. "My... Tu êtes devenus très beau, ma amie. Tu as un petit-ami, ne pas? You must have one, with your beauty."
"I'm not that pretty, at least, not by American standards." she smiled slightly. "Boys over here prefer fake and jobless over real and smart."
"Je ne sais pas pourquoi..." he looked disappointed, leaning down to pick his bags back up. When he stood again, she couldn't help but reach up and tickle his chin.
"You're getting a little hairy there Francis. And tall."
"Oui, well, I thought it better to allow my looks to mature as I did." he chuckled. "Lead the way."
"Oui." she smirked and did as instructed, finishing up her coffee by the time they reached her front door. Francis looked at the outside of the townhouse as she unlocked the door, and when he followed her in he was a bit surprised to find all the lights off.
About as surprised as she was, actually.
Stephanie huffed, walking through to the kitchen and turning on the lights as she passed. He looked curiously over her shoulder when she paused at the counter to pick up a note, then watched her ball it up and toss it into a trashcan in the corner.
"Dad got called in to work and mom went to gets more groceries."
"Called in? Where does he work?" Francis turned, following her to a staircase, then up them to go down a hall.
"He's an accountant at a local company, but he's also a volunteer firefighter so that's probably where he is right now."
"Oh." he frowned again, letting her open a door for him to enter a room. It was rather plain compared to his home, making Stephanie a little self-conscience, knowing his lifestyle was a bit fancier than her own, but he didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, all he did was set his bags down, remove his shoes, then reach into the side pocket of his book bag to retrieve a camera.
"Oh now that's familiar." she laughed, but turned bright red when he turned the lens on her, taking a picture before she could either hide or run.
"Not quite, ma amie." he smirked, then reached back into the book bag to pull out a paper-wrapped item. "I'm sure you noticed that I didn't send a package for your birthday this year? Well I was saving up for something special."
The girl looked curiously at the item, carefully taking it from him to unwrap as he continued. "You mentioned in one of your letters that you were collecting old military badges, so I found some for you that you couldn't get any where else."
She gasped, looking down at the carefully cleaned and polished medals, slowly reaching into the group to run her fingertips over them. "Wow... Francis, how did you-"
"Je savais que quelques personnes." he scoffed, "all I needed was proper... motivation."
"This is wonderful Francis." the man couldn't help but tense up a little when she looked up at him with such a warm, bright smile. "Merci, merci beaucoup!"
"Bien sûr... Seul le meilleur pour ma amie!" he smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder, put tensing visibly when he happened to see what was behind her. Stephanie turned to look at what had caused him to suddenly look scared, and couldn't help but groan when she saw her father standing in the doorway, his hand on the collar of their great pyrenees, whom was growling quietly under his breath.
"Well, well, well, it looks like he got here alright," her father's voice was dripping with venom. "I hope he didn't have a rough journey."
"Dad, cut it out. Francis is my friend and if you even think about turning Spade loose on him I will throw all of your coffee in the trash and force you to drink nothing but decaf."
"You wouldn't dare."
Francis backed away when she put on a devious smirk, making even Spade duck down. "Do you really want to take that chance?"
"...No..." her father let go of the dog's collar, and Francis was relieved to watch him walk over, wagging his tail as he sniffed at the blond's slacks. Stephanie giggled, petting her dog's head before motioning for her friend to follow her from the room.
"Sorry about my dad, he's been a little weird about boys."
"Only the good-looking ones that are brave enough to put a hand on you..." the man muttered, earning a wack on the shoulder from his daughter. "Hey, I'm your father I'm supposed to be suspicious of guys you hang out with because I know how they think and behave!"
"Not this one you don't." she glanced back at her friend. "Il pense que tous les gars je suis avec des amis veut obtenir dans le lit avec moi."
"Hey don't start switching languages on me young lady!" he snapped, reaching over to pinch her cheek. "You wouldn't even know this boy if I hadn't convinced your mother you would be safe going to France!"
"Yes, I know." she grabbed his hand. "You only mention it every time I get a letter or a package dad."
"How did you grow up to be so mean to me, huh?"
She grinned. "Maybe it's all the caffeine."
"...you really are my kid."
Francis chuckled, trying not to fall over Spade as they walked down the stairs together. Stephanie looked back at him and smiled, and though her father didn't say anything the blond didn't miss the annoyed twitch of his eyebrow. Not that it stopped him from smiling back.
"So, how has your school been Stéphanie?"
"Pas mal..." she rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm doing pretty good in everything except math..."
"That's what you get for being in all advanced classes!" her dad teased, but turned to flee when his daughter turned to him with an evil look in her eyes.
"Who's fault is it that I'm in all advanced classes? Hm? WHo was it that said 'the class president should be a good role model for everyone else' huh? It wasn't me!"
Francis reached out to stop her from chasing after the man, and succeeded in having her brown eyes return to his face. "Quel genre de maths?"
"Calculus..." she looked embarrassed.
"C'est tout?" he chuckled. "Alors permettez-moi de aide."
"Vraiment?" she looked hopeful.
"Oui, bien sûr!" the boy reached out to adjust her scarf, making her stiffen when she realized he was copying the movement he did when he gave it to her at the airport six years earlier. "Calculus was one of my best subjects, so I should be able to help you grasp it."
"Good," she suddenly looked nervous again. "Because I have a test tomorrow..."
"Then we better get started, oui?"
French - English:
Tu êtes devenus très beau, ma amie. - You have become beautiful, my friend.
Tu as un petit-ami, ne pas? - You have a boyfriend, right?
Je ne sais pas pourquoi ... - I don't know why...
Je savais que quelques personnes. - I knew a few people
Bien sûr... Seul le meilleur pour ma amie! - Of course... only the best for my friend!
Il pense que tous les gars je suis avec des amis veut obtenir dans le lit avec moi. - He thinks all guys I'm friends with want to get into bed with me.
Quel genre de maths? - What kind of math?
C'est tout? Alors permettez-moi de aide. - Is that all? So allow me to help.
Vraiment? - Really?