AN: FRANCIS TIME! :D Watch out ladies~

I think I'm having too much fun with this... But the Bad Touch Trio is really becoming a favorite of mine!

What's weird is that I actually really like Canada as a guy though... I just had to fem!ify him so that France and Prussia could fight over him x3 But I love Canada so much! If I could marry him... Oh boy. Canadians had better watch out.


Maddie's new room was full of boxes and suitcases she hadn't gotten around to unpacking yet. The only thing she'd done so far was open up a box of clothes so she could get dressed that morning and make the bed so she had somewhere to sleep. Unfortunately, she'd been too busy to unpack any farther.

Sighing, Maddie closed her door on the mess. As little as she liked leaving her room messy, she had no time to unpack now.

The dorm was pretty simple—two bedrooms with a communal living area in between, with a living room, a kitchen, and a restroom off to the side. Ugly scratchy school-provided brown couches hulked grumpily in the living room, looking like bears about to rear up and attack someone, and the kitchen could have come straight out of the sixties, but it was a nice little space altogether. Once she put covers on the couches and cleaned the kitchen, it would be very cute and homey.

Her roommate had been living there for a year before Maddie arrived. Her name was Brittany Kirkland—Britt for short—and she was from England. It hadn't taken long for Maddie to classify Britt as the prickly sort, but she seemed nice enough despite eyebrows that made it seem like she was always glaring.

Britt hadn't done much with the place. She didn't seem much like the homemaker sort. Maddie was almost glad for that. That way she couldn't object to Maddie's attempts to make the space look more lived in.

The blonde-haired green-eyed Brit was sitting at the kitchen table now with her homework spread out before her. Maddie joined her. Even though it was only her first day, she had plenty of homework since she'd come in at the middle of a school year like she had.

I just hope Alfred's doing his, she thought worriedly. It would be awful if he made a bad impression on his teachers on top of everyone else… Maybe I should go check on him.

"How late can girls visit the boys' dormitories?" asked Maddie quietly. She always spoke quietly.

"Hmm?" Britt looked up distractedly. "Oh. Thinking of visiting your dimwitted brother?"

"Yeah." Maddie wasn't at all phased by the insult to her brother. It was pretty true. Rude of Britt to say, yes, but true.

"The girls have to leave the guys' dorms by eight," Britt said, chewing on her eraser as she stared uncomprehendingly at a page of Algebra II homework. "Hey, Canada, could you help me with this problem?"

"Sure." Maddie leaned over to show Britt how to do the problem. It hadn't taken Britt long to catch onto the fact that Maddie was practically a genius. Well, not a genius, but she only had to see something done once to replicate it, and she was very good at the analytical thinking required for independent study.

Britt had also started with the nickname within a few minutes of meeting her. Apparently, here at Hetalia High, where everyone was from a different country, it was common to call people by their home country's name. So Maddie was Canada, Alfred was America, Britt was England, and so on. It was pretty convenient, actually, if you couldn't remember someone's real name.

After she was sure Britt had the concept down, Maddie checked the clock on the stove. It read 6:30. "I'm going to run down to the boys' dorms and see my brother, okay? I'll be back soon.

"All right," Britt said, waving her off without looking up from her homework. "Just be back by nine, okay? I don't want the security guards dragging you back here for being out past curfew."

"I will," Maddie said, tugging on her favorite battered pair of Converse and grabbing her key before she left.

The boys' and girls' dorms were situated on opposite ends of the campus, but it wasn't a long walk—maybe five or ten minutes. She should know. She'd had to run back and forth between the two when she'd moved in last night and found a ton of Alfred's crap in what few boxes she got to unpack. She wasn't even sure how so much of his stuff ended up in her boxes—they hadn't even lived together, for goodness sakes! But he'd managed to leave something at her house every time he visited for the last fifteen years, and she'd never gotten around to sending it back, so maybe that was why she'd had it.

The night was a little chilly; autumn was setting in quickly and early. The trees were already turning crimson and gold and brilliant orange, although this late it was hard to make out the colors against the night sky.

She unlocked her phone and scrolled through her text messages to find the one containing Alfred's dorm number.

Here it is. Im in dorm 2 with some guy named Ludwig. His last names so long its kinda hilarious XD

Dorm 2. She could remember that. Clicking the lock button on her phone, she slipped it into the pocket of her overlarge red Canada hoodie. A sudden wave of homesickness washed over her. On an impulse, she brought the sleeve to her nose and took a deep sniff of the smells of home.

Nostalgia threatened to consume her. She missed her mama already. She and her mama had been really close—they'd only had each other growing up. They'd never really had much to live on, and that was why her mama had encouraged Maddie to work hard at school—so she could go to college and make a better life for them.

Maddie found herself in front of the doors to the boy's dorm, but they were blurry. It took her a moment to realize that she was crying.

Backing into the shadows to hide until she could compose herself, Maddie swiped at the tears. Truthfully, she hadn't wanted to leave home, not really. But she loved her mama, and didn't want her to have to work so hard. So maybe if she came here, living on scholarship, her mama could have a bit of a better life, not having to support a daughter.

"Arte you alright, ma chere?" asked a familiar voice. Maddie looked up to see that French boy from earlier today—Francis. He was looking at her with concern in his amazing clear blue eyes, one hand on the doorknob as if he'd been just about to go inside before he noticed her. The other hand held a convenience store bag. "Are you lost? Or hurt?"

"No, no," she said, swiping at her eyes furiously. Why did she have to break down like this in front of a cute boy? Now that they were alone, she got the chance to get a better look at him. He was a good six or eight inches taller than her, and had wide shoulders and muscles that his tight-fitting T-shirt was definitely doing nothing to hide. His blonde waves of hair were loose now, falling to his chin. He was handsome enough to make her blush just by standing there. To distract him from her tears, she slipped intentionally into French. "I'm fine."

His eyes widened with pleasure. The sight of his crooked grin made her stomach stir with butterflies. "You speak French? How delightful!"

"Yes, I'm from Canada and I always used to speak it with my mama," she replied. Despite her best efforts to compose herself, her voice broke on the last syllable.

Francis smiled sympathetically, turning fully towards her. "Ah. You miss your mama, no? And your home in Canada?"

The red tint to her cheeks deepened. "Yes, I do… My mama and I were like best friends."

"But you have your brother, yes? That makes it better." Startlingly, he reached out and brushed his fingers across her cheek. Warm tingles chased the paths of his fingers on her skin. "You're beautiful when you blush, my dear."

"T-thank you," she stammered, taken off guard by his easy compliment. She'd never have anyone compliment her like that, with no trace of irony or insincerity. "Yes, having Alfred does make it better. That's why I refused to come without him…but he's not mama."

Understandingly, Francis nodded. "Well, there's plenty of nice girls here you could make friends with," he said brightly. "If you want a motherly type, try talking to Elizaveta. I could introduce you. She's my best friend Antonio's girlfriend's roommate."

"Was he the Spanish boy?" she asked. "What about Gilbert?"

"We're kind of a trio," Francis chuckled. "Gil, Toni, and me. I'm the best-looking, but don't tell the others that—it'll ruin their self-esteem," he added with a wink that made Maddie's heart skip.

"I'll keep it to myself," she promised with a laugh. Francis was very forward, and definitely not ashamed to admit his admiration of her, but she liked him. He was certainly very gentlemanly and courteous. Suddenly she remembered why she'd come. "Oh, no, I need to go see my brother before visiting time is up."

Francis opened the door for her, sweeping a bow that somehow didn't look cheesy at all when he did it. "After you, my dear."

"Thank you." She stepped into the warm dormitory, then turned back to Francis. "It was nice seeing you again. I hope we get another chance to talk soon."

"I do as well," he said. His large hand caught hers and he raised her knuckles to his lips. Just the barest kiss brushed across the back of her hand, making her heart rate go nuts. "Until next time, my dear."

Maddie turned pink again, but he had already vanished into his dorm—Dorm Room 1. Why am I bothering remembering? she wondered to herself as she felt the information click into her brain. It's not like I'm ever going in there.

But she had to admit… There was definitely something about Francis Bonnefoy that made her knees go weak.

o~O~o

"Ah!" sighed Francis, dumping the convenience store bag of their usual treats on the kitchen table. "My friends, I think I'm in love," he declared, falling back on the couch where his homework was sitting, ignored. His mind was too full of Madeline to focus on homework. Her quiet mannerisms were cute, and she was so delicate and fragile. The way she hid in that overlarge hoodie of hers was just adorable! It made him grin to think about the curves hinted at underneath the red fabric; but just as captivating were her blue eyes as wide as the sky, her porcelain skin, and her slender piano-player's hands. And she spoke French, the noblest of all tongues! She was a lady, a princess, to be admired and protected. A lady like her deserved a reverent lover. Francis would be very happy to fill the role.

Immediately Gilbert was all ears. "What? Is it Maddie? Did you see her?"

Antonio rummaged through the bag and pulled out the bag of chips Francis had bought him. Before he opened it he tossed Gilbert his beer with a, "Heads up, Prusia."

Gilbert caught the can easily, but he was still staring Francis down with a glare that could have unnerved a stampeding elephant. "Was. It. Maddie."

"Madeline, so lovely. She speaks French, you know," Francis said in a singsong.

Gilbert blinked. Gilbird landed on his head and began pecking about in his white hair, but the eaglet went unnoticed.

"And everyone knows French is the language of love!" crowed Francis triumphantly. "Why you can make love in French just by speaking!"

"No you can't, Francis," Gil said, rolling his eyes and swiveling his chair back around to face his homework. "You just wish there was a way you could have sex just by talking."

"The poor darling is homesick," sighed Francis. "And French is the language she used to speak with her mama. Who knows? Perhaps I'll remind her of home. The warm comforts of home… A soothing embrace… Maybe she had a lover back home who whispered sweet nothings to her in Francois?"

"You're a first-class idiot, Frankreich," Gil said, draining his beer and crumpling the can easily.

"What can I say? I'm crazy in love." Francis hummed to himself, daydreaming about some scandalous things.

Gilbert got up, tossed his can, and put on his coat. "I'm taking a walk," he announced. "I'll be back before curfew, most likely."

Francis sat up, staring Gil down. "I'm coming too."

"You just walked down to the convenience store," Gilbert said in an unfriendly tone, glaring at Francis.

"What of it?" I won't let him win Madeline, he thought. The force of his own fury at the idea of Gilbert and Maddie together made him blink. But the image of the two of them, of the German putting his rough, angry hands on his princess… It made his stomach knot with disgust and anger.

"You should get your homework done."

"Who cares about homework?" The albino blinked at the venom in Francis' voice. He was rarely ever angry, and never showed it even when he was.

Toni spoke up. "You should really do it, amigo," he said. "You're already on thin ice, what with being on house arrest last week."

As easygoing as Francis was, in his mood he was even irritated at his Spanish friend. Unfortunately, though, he was speaking sense, which was why Francis was frustrated. If Francis got on house arrest again, he would lose to Gilbert for sure.

With a sigh, he lay back down and flipped open a textbook. "Have fun on your walk, Gilbert," he grumbled.

The albino looked smug. "Thank you."

It took all of Francis' self-control to stay there on the couch and watch Gilbert leave. Obviously he was going to wait for Maddie to come out, and then hit on her in his blunt, un-chivalrous German way. She deserved so much better than that crude, genetically freakish Neanderthal.

Turning on some salsa music to dispel the stuffy atmosphere, Toni peered at Francis curiously. "Do you really like her that much, Francia?"

"Of course." Francis looked up. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know." The Spaniard ate a chip thoughtfully and scribbled an answer down on his homework page. "Do you think you two just want Maddie because the other does?"

"No," Francis said with a glare. "When have I ever intruded on Gil's relationships? Usually when both of us want the same girl, one of us just backs down and gets to pick up the pieces of her broken heart when the other leaves her. But this time it's different."

"Because you don't think he'd dump her if he won, do you?" Toni asked quietly.

"No." Francis' voice was just as soft. He couldn't imagine anyone ever ending a relationship with such a sweet, adorable little princess like Madeline Williams.

He knew he wouldn't. Ever.

That thought came as a shock. It was so strong, so full of conviction. He'd joked about it not five minutes ago, but until that thought had crossed his mind, he hadn't fully believed that he might really be in love with Madeline Williams.

But now… Well, he was French. He knew love when he felt it. And what was in his heart right now just couldn't be anything else.


AN: I think France and Prussia are distinctly different in the way they see Maddie. France thinks of her like a princess who needs to be romanced, and Prussia thinks of her like a china doll that needs to be protected. But they both think that, by winning, they'd be protecting her from the other. Which is really cute if you think about it ^^ No other girl has been important enough to them to make them want to save her from getting her heart broken. *musings of a die-hard romantic*

Reviews please! France fans, represent!