Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia
Chapter 4
The three hosts stumbled through the host-club door on the evening of the 14th July, giggling as they had fun without the aid of their usual consumption of alcoholic beverages – Antonio wanted Francis to be coherent enough to accept his birthday gifts.
"Time for prezzies!" Gil declared in a loud, obnoxious voice, leading his two friends over to the sofa and producing an envelope from his coat pocket, handing it to Francis. Antonio handed him one as well, and the German and Spaniard sat down beside the French host, waiting to see the look on his face. The first one from Antonio contained a little shop-bought card, and a cheque for quite a considerable amount of money. The Frenchman frowned at this, turning to the Spaniard.
"'Tonio, what is this?" he asked, holding the cheque up accusingly.
"A piece of paper to help you get your apartment, mi amigo~" Antonio replied simply, giving him an innocent smile.
"You know I can't accept this, mon ami…" Francis pursed his lips slightly as Antonio pouted like a child.
"Says who?" he challenged, a half-mischievous glint twinkling in his green eyes.
"Says…says decency!" Francis' comeback made Gilbert chuckle.
"Francis, name one time in your life when you have cared about 'decency'." The albino knew many of the Frenchman's traits – decency was definitely not one of them.
Francis huffed. "That's not the point."
"Well, if you care so much about being decent, then take the money. You can't reject a gift; it's rude~" Antonio almost sang the last part, and Francis looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes.
"I knew you were up to something…" he began, but Gilbert's chortle cut him off.
"When is he not up to something?" he asked, earning a frown from Antonio, but the albino ignored it as he added, "Oh, und by the way, you can open my present anytime you want~" he grinned as he chivvied Francis up.
The Frenchman rolled his eyes, but obliged. His eyes visibly widened as not only did the envelope contain another cheque, but the amount of money Gilbert was giving him was more than enough to buy the apartment by itself.
"Gil, I really can't – " Francis tried to insist, but the Spaniard and German gave each other a quick nod and stood, grabbing their coats and heading towards the host-club door. Francis jumped up, having placed the cheques carefully on the sofa-cushion before standing in front of the two hosts, blocking their exit. Antonio only smiled, placing a hand on Francis' shoulder.
"Be good to yourself for once, Francis. We all want you to get that apartment, so take the money and get it already~" Francis was about to say something in protest, but once again Gil stopped him from doing so.
"Besides, it took ages for me to bribe Roddy to even let me give you anything, so don't let my hard work go to waste, ja?" the German winked as he said 'hard work', making Francis raise an eyebrow before sighing in defeat. Both the German and the Spaniard took this as acceptance, and Antonio removed his hand from Francis' shoulder, grinning triumphantly.
"Merci…you imbéciles~" Francis smiled fondly, and Gilbert laughed.
"Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Francis~" he gave the Frenchman a quick hug, before Gilbert and Antonio left, the door closing softly behind them. Francis flopped down on the sofa, inwardly thanking God for the most idiotic but greatest friends he could ever ask for.
XxX
"Scheiße!" Gilbert cursed as he struggled to lift the heavy wooden wardrobe into Francis' new apartment. He heard laughter behind him, and saw Francis and Antonio watching him with obvious amusement.
"It serves you right for boasting about how strong you are, Gil." Francis stood with his arms crossed, having just set down a chest of drawers that he had carried in with Antonio's help.
"And you did sayyou could carry it by yourself~" the Spaniard added, a grin on his tanned features.
"Fuck you both." Gilbert grinned though as Francis and Antonio gave in, helping him to lift the wardrobe into the small bedroom.
"I need a beer after that~" Gilbert stated, receiving an eye-roll from Francis and a light swat to the arm from Antonio.
"You just had a beer, mi amigo~" Antonio laughed as Gil pouted.
"But – " the albino was about to protest, but Francis crossed his arms.
"Just what would my new land-lady think of me if you stumbled out of here drunk?" the Frenchman asked, and Gil could see his point. His friends had told him in the past that he didn't make the most pleasant drunkard, and had received a slap-to-the-face on several occasions for the comments he had made.
As if on cue, said new land-lady appeared in the doorway, rapping her knuckles against the door-frame rhythmically. She was a small woman, but pretty, with tumbling brown hair and hazel eyes. Every time Francis had encountered her, she wore a never-faltering smile, and didn't hesitate to introduce herself as Elizaveta Héderváry, shaking Francis' hand in a friendly but masculine manner.
Once again, Elizaveta greeted Francis with a warm smile, and paused as her gaze fell on the German and Spaniard accompanying the Frenchman.
"Good morning, Francis~" she greeted, her words blanketed by a strong Hungarian accent, "How are you getting on?" she sent a courteous nod towards the two unfamiliar gentlemen, and Antonio gave her a kind smile in return, whereas Gilbert smirked instead. Immediately, her eyes narrowed and the Hungarian decided she didn't like the look of the albino man, but Francis' response brought her out of her judgements.
"Very well, merci. These are my friends, Gilbert et Antonio, who have been helping moi to move in~" the Frenchman answered, gesturing to each man in turn as he introduced them.
"It's nice to meet you both~" The land-lady replied. "I'm Elizaveta." The Hungarian was usually quite a good judge of character, and she knew she was going to have to keep an eye on Gilbert, she believed he was called. "Do you need a hand with anything?" she asked, always offering to help as she liked her residents to be comfortable and enjoy living with her as their land-lady.
"Nah, thanks. We got it!" Gilbert responded before Francis could, giving Elizaveta a challenging look, which she, much to the surprise of Francis and Antonio, reciprocated. It seemed that no subtle cough from the albino's friends could make him back down, but soon the tension in the room was unbearable, and Antonio flicked Gilbert in the back of the head to make him stop. It worked, and Gilbert flicked Antonio back, soon raging into a full-on flick war, as Francis sighed.
"I shall ask you to make sure you keep the noise to a respectable level, as I'm afraid you have a rather particular neighbour across the hall…" Elizaveta warned in a friendly manner, giving another smile as Francis nodded in understanding.
She soon disappeared, and Francis turned, giving both Gilbert and Antonio simultaneous smacks to the back of their heads to end their squabble, smirking as they both gave him a look of "was that really necessary?"
"You heard what Elizaveta said, didn't you?" Francis answered their looks, and both men straightened up, giving each other a quick glance before turning back to Francis.
"Something about a grumpy neighbour?" Antonio asked, just to confirm.
"Something to do with a guy with a stick shoved up his arse?" Gilbert followed, mimicking Antonio but grinning as Francis rolled his eyes.
"Oui, close enough. So you've got to keep it down, Gil~" Francis grinned, deliberately blaming Gilbert as he knew the albino was the loudest. That earned him a huff from Gil.
"Mi amigo, I'm hungry. Let's go grab some lunch, sí?" Antonio ushered Francis and Gilbert towards the front door, successfully diffusing a conflict between the German and the Frenchman. The two agreed, having not even had any breakfast that morning, and Antonio grabbed Gilbert's hand, pulling him out of the door. Francis smiled, lingering behind to lock the front door with the key that Elizaveta had earlier presented him with, before turning around. He stopped in his tracks as he saw the one thing he had never expected to be across the hall from him at that moment.
XxX
Arthur had slept in that morning, allowing his hangover time to do its worst as he didn't have work to get up for.
Stupid bloody job.
Who the hell do they think they are, firing me for no reason?
Of course, that wasn't strictly true, as his late employers had rattled off a lengthy list of reasons why he was being fired, but Arthur hardly thought any of them were valid.
Grumbling to himself, he took a quick shower before pulling on the first clothes he found in his wardrobe – a pair of jeans and a casual T-shirt – and left his apartment, knowing he had to go and speak to his land-lady about the rent. She wouldn't mind, but Arthur – being the perfect gentleman – always felt the need to apologise. She understood his predicament, but she had on one occasion been forced to give Arthur work just so that he could pay his rent that month, which hurt Arthur's pride but he was in no fit state to complain about it. He grabbed his keys and opened the door, but the sight that greeted him was a surprising and currently unwelcome one, as he saw none other than the Frenchman – what was his name again? – locking the door across the hall from him. As soon as the other man turned around, there was a moment of silence as sparkling blue met emerald green, and both men stood stunned.
"Arthur?" Francis couldn't believe it was the Englishman who had stumbled in drunkenly to their host-club a few months ago, and apparently, neither could Arthur.
The Frenchman saw that Arthur had no idea what to say, as the Englishman had remembered how he had left with only a note thanking Francis for his hospitality, and had hoped that was that.
There was another awkward moment and Arthur shifted on his feet, before Francis cleared his throat and gave a smile.
The Brit expected Francis to ask what he was doing here, or why he looked like hell. But instead, the Frenchman offered a hand to Arthur.
"Would you like to get some lunch with me?" he asked, that overwhelming friendliness that Arthur had first encountered with a splitting headache was written all over Francis' features, and Arthur simply couldn't say no.
"Alright…but you're paying." He begrudgingly agreed, and Francis nodded, smiling as Arthur avoided the Frenchman's hand but walked next to him.
This could indeed become interesting.
A/N: I know im a terrible person so kill me now. However, if you don't wanna kill me now, could you review instead? ^,^
Im sorry for not updating in so long but it took me a while to remember where this story was headed…sorry but I love you all! I promise 3
