TEN YEARS LATER
Francis sipped his coffee lightly as he read the newspaper and Alfred came downstairs. "Good morning, mon fils."
"Mornin', Dad." He slung his travel backpack over his back by one strap, grabbing a bottle of cold, pre-made coffee out of the fridge. As he was about to leave, Francis put a hand on his shoulder.
"Where are you headed, Alfred?"
"Out."
He chuckled. "Where, specifically?"
"Gonna meet up with Lud' outside the cafè down the street; we're gonna do somethin', but I don't know what. Guess Lud's surprising me."
Francis chuckled. He should have suspected that his son's German boyfriend was behind this. Why the backpack, though? Was he just packing in case he ended up staying the night at the Beilschmidt residence? Francis smiled, not thinking any more on the matter.
"Have fun," he said, watching Alfred run out the door. He waved, but the second Alfred left, he broke down into a nervous panic. This was the first time in God knows how long that he had let Alfred out of the house alone; was he going to be alright?
Hopefully.
|§|
Alfred listened to the radio as Ludwig drove.
Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
Maybe someday, you'll look up,
And barely conscious, you'll say to no one...
"Good song," Alfred muttered as he felt Ludwig wrap an arm around him and kiss his forehead. "Lud'!"
Ludwig chuckled. "I love you, Alfred."
"I love you, too," he said quietly before gagging. "Can we stop? I feel nauseous."
Ludwig looked over at him, concerned. Then he pulled over on the side of the road, where Alfred jumped out and started vomiting into the nearby vegetation. Ludwig got out, as well, patting Alfred's back as he threw up. He eventually came back into an upright position, where Ludwig wrapped his arms around him and kissed his cheeks.
"Is something wrong? Pregnant, maybe?"
"No. We used condoms last time, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. Then, I don't know."
"Maybe I'm just carsick."
"Maybe." They got back into the car and Ludwig drove off.
|§|
Alfred chuckled as he walked through the door, where Francis was waiting for him on the couch, smoking a cigarette and watching television, his sleeves rolled up and his hair tied back into a ponytail. He looked up from the screen. "Welcome back. You were gone for a bit."
"The night was young, and so am I."
"I was scared that something had happened to you. If you didn't come back by midnight, I was going to call the police."
"You wait twenty-four hours to report someone missing, don't ya?"
"That's what they say, but that's not required. You can report anyone missing at any moment you get suspicious. Now... are you alright? Did anything happen while you were out?"
"I got carsick on my way to the club that Lud' and I were headed to. But I recovered and I'm fine."
"You went to a club? What club?"
"Does that matter?"
"Alfred, were you drinking?"
"Yeah."
Francis put his head in his available hand. "What did I tell you?"
"I'm mature enough to handle it."
"You're 19 and under legal drinking age. Ludwig is only 20; he's underage, as well. I'm within the correct parameters."
Alfred scoffed. "Nothing bad happened to me!"
"But if it had-"
"Shut the hell up! Stop controlling my life; I'm not a child anymore! I've graduated high school, gotten a driver's license, I'm employed, and I'm engaged!" He showed Francis the silver band around his centre finger. "I'm mature. You should move on."
"Did you? Don't you still grieve over your father and your brother?"
"I miss them. I want to know-"
"You forgot what they looked like. You don't know what they sounded like. You don't remember anything; you just remember who they are and how they're related to you."
"Shut the fuck up, Dad! They still mean a lot to me!"
"Sure, they do." Francis sighed, letting out a puff of smoke. "Go off to your boyfriend or something."
Alfred grumbled, tears lining his eyes. "Fine! I will, then!"
He left the house, slamming the door behind him.
|§|
He knocked on Ludwig's door, grumbling about how he was going to kill Francis for everything he said, how he was going to move out into Ludwig's place and marry him, how he would never have to live with Francis ever again.
He looked down at his watch. He had knocked three minutes ago. He rang the doorbell. He waited three more minutes, but no response. He opened the door slowly. The television was on, but there was no one in the living room. Every light was turned off... but there was light poking out of the bottom of Ludwig's door. He slowly opened the bedroom door. Ludwig was asleep on the bed; that's why he didn't respond to his knocking and the ringing of the doorbell. He pushed the door open the entire way, but freaked out when he saw someone else on the right side of Ludwig's bed.
He had short, bright red hair with a curl on the side of his head. His skin was pale, and his eyes were closed, indicating that he was asleep, as well. Alfred panicked; there was white gunk all over the sheets. Not only was he sharing a bed with another man, but he had sex with him, as well?
Alfred ran out of the room- along with the apartment- in tears.
|§|
Francis sighed. "I anticipated this, Alfred. Germans don't play fair; they cheat and play dirty. I warned you about dating him, didn't I?"
"Yeah..."
"And what happened to you?"
"I found him cheating on me."
Francis nodded. "That's right." He poured a glass of authentic French red wine and slipped it into Alfred's hand. "Now, drink up."
"I thought you said that I shouldn't be drinking because I'm so young."
"Alfred, I make exceptions; you know that. You've seen me." He took both of his hands and put them around Alfred's available one. "Now drink." He poured himself a glass, lightly tapping it against Alfred's with a smile and sipping it.
Alfred looked down into the glass, seeing his reflection back up at him before he took a sip.
|§|
He woke up on the couch with Francis. The Frenchman was still awake, running his fingers through Alfred's hair. Alfred looked up at him. Francis looked down and smiled.
"Alfred?"
"Yes, Dad?"
"Promise me you'll never even lay eyes on that German again. I don't want to see any more hurt than you are."
Alfred nodded. "I promise."
Francis nodded, messing up his already quite unruly hair. "That's my boy."
