It was fairly strange. Lovino and Ivan hadn't been bullying Arthur ever since that day, besides the occasional jeer. And Francis could swear that the big one was sometimes following him around, which was creepy. But, he figured it was fine as long as they didn't give them trouble. They had been going through the same routine, going to the creek most days after school. His father was practically continually angry at him, but it didn't really matter.

Swallowing down his fear, Arthur walked up the front path to Francis' house. He finally looked in the phone book for his address, and decided to pay him a visit. Plus his father couldn't be worse than his own from how he talked about him. Still, it shouldn't be too difficult for him. Knocking on the door, he waited until a strange blond man opened the door. "Hello, is Francis home?" Well, he better be, but he knew he had to be polite.

Eyes going to slits, Frédéric studied the boy in front of him. "Why? Who are you?"

"Arthur sir. Would I be right to assume you are Mr. Bonnefoy?" He asked, trying to keep polite despite the angry look from the man. "I was wondering if I may see him."

How could his son possibly associate himself with such... low class? "No, you may not. He is doing homework, and I would not like... you to interrupt him." He could even faintly smell smoke from this boy. He wouldn't want such a bad influence on his son.

Inside Arthur started fuming. Just what right did this, Frenchman have to be such a prick? What kind of father was he to not let his son have friends? "Ok, I understand. Please tell him I came by." Dismissing himself from the porch, he just grimaced as he started walking away. Damn Francis' father was a wanker.

Passing by a window, Francis saw Arthur outside. That must have been who was at the door. He knocked on the window, trying to get his attention. Once he looked, the Parisian gestured for him to come around back.

Looking around in confusion, Arthur went over to the low window with a frown. "What are you doing?" He hissed, knowing his father didn't want them talking while his son was working on homework. "No offense, but your father's kind of a wanker."

"You don't think I know that? Anyway, why are you here? You can come inside if you want." He opened the window more. "There is a big rock there that is perfect for getting in here." As soon as they had gotten to the new house, he had found as many escape routes as possible.

Shrugging, the Englishman went over to the window and crawled inside. "What if your old man sees me in here? I rather like being able to use my arms thank you. And my bruises just finally faded." It didn't seem like a very fun thing to do. Arthur couldn't help but look around Francis' clean, uncluttered room.

Sitting on his bed, Francis shook his head. "He doesn't get violent. The worst he could do would be kick you out and punish me." It was nice to not be alone, as long as they stayed kind of quiet.

"But I'd still rather not get either of us in trouble." He said, still standing awkwardly in Francis' room. Arthur didn't want to just sit down without permission even if he would have normally disregarded such etiquette. "Are you actually doing homework?"

"No, that's just what I tell him so he won't come to my room." He usually finished his homework at school anyways, when they weren't skipping. He just wouldn't pay attention in class so he could focus on that.

Shrugging, Arthur stayed standing. "Well, I was just coming over so we could go to the creek, but that obviously won't happen. So, I'll see you at school Monday then?" He asked, already knowing the answer. With how much school they missed from skipping the Frenchman needed to go to as many classes as possible.

"I guess. I mean you can try and stay here if we just keep quiet, but there really isn't much to do at my house anyway." Which was too bad, but oh well. "So if you ever want to see me, just climb in this window, don't bother going to the front door."

Arthur nodded. "Makes sense. Your father isn't the most pleasurable person to deal with." Pausing for a second as they held eye contact, he then went over to the window. "Well you'll know where I will be if you are allowed to leave your cage."

Francis laughed, standing up and going by the window. "I might sneak out tonight. I used to every night in Paris, after all." But he would do it fairly late, so that his father was already asleep.

"Jolly good. I'll see you then, Francis." And with that, Arthur slipped out the window, not realizing just how many times he would do just that over the next month.

.oOo.

Hearing a knock, Francis looked to his window and smiled. It was now their code, in a sense, that he would open his window whenever he heard that knocking. Going over to it, he opened it, and saw Arthur stand up and jump inside. "And how are you this lovely evening?"

"Could be better, but fairly well. And you?" Arthur asked as he sat down on the desk chair. "I was wondering if you could sneak out tonight. The faeries seem to miss you, the buggers." He added with a touch of bitterness. It wasn't fair that they liked him so much if he didn't believe in them.

Laughing, Francis glanced at the time. Well, his father should be asleep by now... "D'accord, that is fine. Just let me get a jacket." He looked around for something and threw it on. Could he think that if Arthur said the fairies missed him, that actually meant that he missed him?

Waiting a few seconds, he then climbed out of the window with Francis behind him. "They're probably glowing by now, so it'll be easier if I lead since I can see them." That and he didn't want the water nymphs to start giggling again as soon as Francis was around. It was endearing for the first minute, then it just turned irritating.

"Glowing? Like fireflies?" He asked, sneaking around the house and then following him once they were far enough away. They could stay out as long as they wanted tonight, because they didn't have school tomorrow.

"Sort of. It's more of a... Dim glow. I'm not quite sure if you will be able to see them or not. And they have different colours." He continued to explain as they made their way to the brook. The sound of trickling water and the rising humidity signaled Arthur that he was going the right way.

Nodding, Francis kept a look out for glowing. After all, maybe they were real. It was a possibility that we wasn't going to not consider, because that would be ignorant. He was still doubtful, but who wouldn't be?

Once they got to the stream, Arthur's eye lit up as he saw the small flecks of multicoloured lights. "See, they're here." He explained, pointing around the clearing. "And more are coming. The wankers really do like you. Are you sure you can't see them?"

A little disappointed, Francis looked around, not seeing anything. "Sorry, but I don't see anything." It was nice being here at night, though. It gave the whole place a completely different feel, with the willows hanging down over the creek and the moonlight shining through them.

Sighing, he went behind Francis and grabbed his arm. "See? They're there." He stated, using their same height to be able to point out where the clusters of light were to his friend. "There," Arthur moved it again. "And there mostly. How can you not see them?"

"I only see trees, and the moonlight shimmering off the water. Just face it, I can't see them." Francis looked over his shoulder at him, glad he couldn't see him very well in the half-light. It was getting awkward, sometimes, with him being gay, but he still wanted them to be friends. If he made a move, he really didn't think he could pass it off as a joke.

Feeling somewhat dejected, Arthur gave up. "Fine, but they still really like you. It's actually quite annoying since they love to talk about you. They haven't seen any new humans in a long time, and they won't tell me just what makes you so special."

Laughing, Francis went over by the tree to lean on it while taking his shoes off. "Well, obviously you agree with them somewhat, since I am your one and only friend." And hopefully it would stay like that. They had fun together, somehow making a perfect pair even when they were so very different. And it didn't matter if the girls in the class seemed to want to talk to him more, because he only wanted to spend time with Arthur.

Blushing from the compliment, Arthur just followed Francis and took his socks and shoes off. "That... Is a special case. If you couldn't tell from Lovino and Ivan, no one really wants to give me any time of day unless it is to belittle me."

"I don't understand why. So far, you are fun to be with. Unless you like wet your pants in grade school or something I don't know about." He laughed, obviously making a joke. That was probably one of the problems with small towns, you were with the same people your whole life. In his school, he had a new group of classmates every year.

"No! It's more the fact that since I'm smarter than the average student, they feel the need to bring me down to their level by ostracizing me. The other half of the reason I didn't want to drag you down with me. Though I am glad we're friends now." The Brit added as they both stepped into the cool water. "Watch where you step; the water nymphs are crowding your ankles."

Accepting the reason, Francis dipped his hand into the water, grabbing a smooth rock. "They haven't been bugging you lately, thought, right?" He hoped they hadn't been, but it was still creepy how Ivan kept following him around.

Shrugging, he asked. "It depends on who you mean by 'them' and what your definition of bugging is." With Francis as a friend, the other students still would make fun of him for only having a foreign Frenchman as a friend -which at first was an ego crusher in its own right- but he would just brush it off. Though it was still awkward to talk about his years of loneliness with someone who he could tell could be popular.

"I mean, you haven't been getting beat up by that Russian, have you? I haven't seen any black eyes lately, so that's good." Or any arms in slings, which was also good. Of course, unless he was there to make him put on the sling, he didn't think Arthur would wear one.

Crouching in the water, he shook his head. "No, Ivan hasn't done anything yet." That wasn't a lie, since he had only gotten dirty looks from Lovino, and Ivan had almost seemed to disappear. "But it's fine. I've been protecting myself from him and... Others long enough. I know how to keep myself alive."

Rolling his eyes, Francis threw the rock so it made three skips along the water. He hadn't known how to do that before, but Arthur had taught him. "Just because you can hold your own doesn't mean they should be bullying you."

Arthur just shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. They aren't nearly as bad as..." Catching his almost slip up, he fell silent. Instead, he waved his hand around Francis' feet, urging the nymphs to scatter. It almost made him jealous just how much they all liked the Frenchman. "They aren't that bad."

Looking at him, Francis lifted an eyebrow. "Not as bad as? What, are other people bullying you? Remember, friend's help each other, so you have to tell me these things!"

"Nothing, it was just a slip of the tongue. I didn't mean anything by it." He covered it up, not wanting to look up at Francis' deep blue eyes. There was something about them that Arthur didn't know why, but when he looked at him, something fluttered in his stomach. It could have been nerves, but it didn't really make sense. Especially now that his eyes glinted with the light of the moon and his hair looked silver instead of its normal gold. Arthur always knew he was different then the other boys who fawned over the girls, but he just figured it meant he just wasn't sexually attracted to them yet.

Glaring at him slightly, Francis decided to let it go for another time. "Whatever. So are the fairies happy now?" Arthur was still looking away from him, which was strange, because normally when he spoke he looked directly into his eyes. It was a little different, but nice, to always seen those green eyes on him.

"Yes. I've already told you, they like it when you come here. I wish you could see them as well. They're really beautiful right now." The unearthly glows lit up the small clearing and flitted over the water and through the trees. It was almost as if Francis was his own type of mystical being with his shimmering eyes.

A little disappointed that he couldn't see them as well, Francis picked up another rock and skipped it. "It's beautiful enough here, just like it is now." It truly was, especially with his friend right beside him.

Arthur just nodded as he fished around in the water. "I'm glad I could finally share this spot with someone. I was honestly worried that they would run away if I brought you here. With your French-ness and all." It was a strange feeling in his chest, but Arthur wasn't sure just what brought it about.

Giving a small laugh, Francis looked at him. "You brought me here when you had only known me for a day, and you say you were worried about it? That is more than a little strange." Although he was glad it had happened. If not for that, they probably never would have become such good friends now.

Standing up, Arthur looked over at Francis as well. "That is why no one likes me. That and I have a mean sucker punch." He smiled gently; straying from his normal facade.

"And I thought it was because they felt threatened by your eyebrows. Thought they would fly off and attack them." He laughed, pointing at them. "Why don't you try and tame them? At least a little?"

Batting the hand away, Arthur grumbled. "I happen to like my eyebrows thank you. It makes it so people don't try and be my friend just because I'm smart." That and his father seemed to think it negated the 'gayness' of believing in faeries. Though, he never really thought of himself being gay. More that he just hadn't started liking women yet.

Still laughing slightly, Francis let the subject drop. An owl flew overhead, blocking out the moon for a split second. "What is it like here in the winter? Does it snow?" He had just missed winter, coming to England only a few months before school ended.

"If we're lucky, but we barely ever are. Normally it's just rain rain and more rain." He answered, still rubbing his eyebrows. The thing was still fluttering in his chest and it was starting to make him worry. Just what was it?