Still drafts, but this chapter was actually written before the previous chapter, so I'm SURE there are inconsistencies.

It had been a few day and Francis still could not get the thought of Arthur out of his mind. He had probably been a little bit too harsh, but it was so damned frustrating. Everyone Francis had been with before had always been on him within a day, what was wrong with Arthur? Francis had not been able to provide a reasonable answer, and his fear of the unknown had caused him to finally explode.

He tried brushing it off. It was easier to ignore in the kitchen, even though that still managed to remind Francis of the fleeting time he spent with Arthur, but it was better than the quiet of the classroom as there was too much time in between talking and allowing the children to work on an activity he had set out for them. Not only that, but Matthew was a constant reminder of Arthur as well, although at least the child never talked about him, not to Francis at least. He did catch a brief sentence that day as Matthew talked happily to another child about the cupcakes his soon-to-be dad had brought him.

That was an unpleasant knife in Francis' heart. He really did feel bad for making such ridiculous accusations of Arthur, but his fear and temper had gotten the best of him. It wasn't worth dwelling on though. Francis would rather protect himself from another abysmal relationship with someone who wouldn't even look at him the way Francis looked at them. He smiled softly at the thought of Arthur whispering into his ear on their first date. Sure, maybe Arthur had paid more attention to Francis than anyone else ever had, but that obviously didn't mean anything. Only the kids mattered to Arthur.

Francis thought this as he noticed Matthew start to walk towards his desk, looking cheerfully at Francis as he brought his project for him to grade. It wasn't much, Francis was teaching them about math by having them glue different colored buttons and whatnot onto each side of the paper, representing both sides of an equation. He found the kids learned faster when they got to make crafts and generally have fun with their homework.

Matthew spoke softly as he presented Francis with his button math, "Daddy wanted me to give this to you." He had said it so brightly, it took Francis a moment to respond. Surely Arthur hadn't given him a second thought after he left his house the other day.

Francis took Matthew's assignment as the small piece of paper that had a small rose attached to it. Without thinking, Francis placed the rose on his desk and read the short letter.

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;"

Go to the place of our first date to receive the next clue. Don't eat dinner. Leave at 7pm.

He furrowed his brown in confusion at the strange letter. The second part was self-explanatory, but the Robert Frost poem threw Francis for a loop. He looked up to ask Matthew what was going on.

"Daddy said he's sorry for the other night, and he wanted to make it up to you. Said something about no funny business though." Matthew scrunched his face at the last sentence before smiling is his always sweet manner. "Please come tonight," he added with a squeak in his voice before turning and skipping off back to his seat.

Unbelievable, Matthew had even called Arthur "daddy". Francis sighed at the idea of having to apologize for his outburst. He was starting to get an idea of how unfair he had been to Arthur, but it still didn't answer his questions about why Arthur was avoiding sleeping with him. Maybe going to this thing tonight was a chance for him to understand though. Wait, did Matthew invite him? It almost sounded like he was going to be there as well.

That thought thoroughly confused Francis. He continued mulling over the strange invitation all day, but didn't bother to question Matthew any further on the subject. It's not like he could get anything out of him the first time through. When Matthew wanted it to be a surprise, it was going to be a surprise. Unless Alfred interfered.

Francis briefly thought about trying to find Alfred and squeeze the information out of him, but Arthur had said he could only manage to bribe Alfred with Twinkies, and where on earth was Francis supposed to get Twinkies in Europe? Oh well, it was easy enough to follow the instructions.

Finally, the day drew to an end and he bid his students goodbye. He packed a few items into his satchel before leaving the classroom. Luckily, it wasn't a night where he was working at the restaurant after school, but he assumed Arthur had found that out the same way he had found out Francis was working at the restaurant the first time.

After waiting anxiously in his own home, 7pm finally came around and Francis drove up to the restaurant where their first date had taken place, knots twisting in his stomach, almost hoping that he wasn't actually going to have to face Arthur yet. Francis sat in the car for a while, breathing deeply, trying to prepare his apology. Had the man really gone through all of this trouble just to make it up to him? Arthur wasn't even the one who had done anything really wrong, Francis was starting to believe that maybe he just didn't understand why Arthur had been avoiding sex so far. He had started to suppose that maybe, just maybe, there was a reason he hadn't been able to find anyone who loved him as much as he loved them.

It took Francis another minute before he finally got out of the car and walked to the front of the restaurant. The hostess that had been there the other night greeted him at the door.

"Oh, of course. I remember you!" She said.

Francis tilted his head, "Were you waiting for me?"

"Well yes actually. Here." She handed Francis a small bag filled with what looked like dinner. "The man you were with the other evening came by and asked me to give these things to you."

"Thank you." Francis said. Normally he would have been more charming, but the events of the evening were unfolding in such a bizarre manner, he simply forgot his normal pleasantries.

"But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,"

Glad you made it this far. Go to the empty field on the edge of town. We're waiting for you.

"We're". So maybe Matthew was there. Probably Alfred too. The newest letter did nothing to answer any of Francis' questions, but it gave him a little more motivation to continue. With the second part of the poem, Francis was starting to believe that maybe Arthur was trying to tell him something, but beyond thinking it had something to do with sex, Francis could not for the life of him figure out what he was trying to say. It was a mystery that had to be answered.

Francis barely remembered to thank the lovely hostess before he left the restaurant. By this time, his heart was beating furiously. The amount of effort Arthur had already put into Francis was becoming more and more clear. His hands started shaking as he gripped the steering wheel to leave. The words he had shouted at Arthur the last time he had seen him coming to the surface of his thoughts.

Why was Arthur even giving him another chance? Why hadn't he just forgotten about Francis altogether? It was those thoughts alone the kept him moving forward. Perhaps Arthur could forgive him for being so incredibly rude.

He drove in silence to where the small letter had instructed him to go, cutting the radio off as the thoughts churned in his head. A short while later, Francis cut the engine to his car as he pulled up into an empty parking lot. The letter had claimed that Arthur and company would be here, but there was no sign of anyone around.

A flicker of light caught the corner of his eye over the small hill off to the left. Francis almost wasn't sure he had seen it correctly before it flashed once again, shining directly into Francis' eyes. He squinted against the light. Was there nothing about this night that was going to start making sense?

He got out of the car, with no better instructions or hint to go off of and followed the flickering light. It looked like a torch, judging by the erratic nature of the light's movement across the grass. As Francis breached the small hill, he saw a truck with two small heads sticking over the top. The heads started giggling furiously and one of them was shining the light at Francis' feet.

"Come on!" Matthew said excitedly. His voice was still soft, but the excitement was clear in his voice.

Francis started a slow descent down the hill. Even though he was now clearly at his destination, he still had no idea what to expect. What could he possibly be expected to do in a truck in the middle of a field with two children? What kind of date was this?

He walked around to the bed of the truck where the kids seemed to be standing as they peered over the top. Alfred, who had been in charge of the torchlight, shined the beam of light into the bed so Francis could see. His heart stopped beating completely when he saw what Arthur and the twins had prepared for him.

The bed of the truck was full of pillows and blankets, all varying shapes and sizes and some looking oddly like couch cushions. Arthur was in the middle of the makeshift truck fort, smiling kindly. Both Alfred and Matthew sat down next to him, Alfred giggling wildly and Matthew laughing softly as he watched Alfred.

"So dawn goes down to day." Arthur said simply.

"Nothing gold can stay. Yes, it's Robert Frost, but what on earth did you send me on this wild goose chase for with this silly little poem." Francis was dying to know what this was all about.

"I just wanted you to know that there's more to a relationship than…well…" Arthur glanced down at the children before adding, "Some of the more physical aspects."

That didn't exactly answer his question, but if they were going to broach the subject, maybe it was best to talk about it when the kids weren't listening.

"Daddy said we could join you on your date this time!" Matthew squeaked happily. Francis turned his attention to the children.

"Oh did he? And what exactly are we doing on this date now?" Maybe he could get some answers from the kids.

"WE'RE LOOKING FOR ALIENS!" Alfred shouted, raising his tiny fists in the air as high as he could manage. At that, Matthew rolled his eyes.

"Please, there's no such thing. We're just stargazing."

"Yes there are such a thing as aliens! Just because you've never seen one doesn't mean they don't exist."

"Settle down, no fighting you two. We're here to stargaze, but if Alfred manages to find an alien then it's just a happy coincidence." Arthur finally interrupted the twins bickering. Francis' heart fluttered in his chest as the kindness Arthur spoke to the children with. He had been so, so, so very cruel to him.

"Arthur, I'm sorry." Francis could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes. His chest tightened as he thought once again how wrong he had been. Arthur waited, his shoulders slumped slightly as he looked Francis in the eye. "I shouldn't have said such horrible things to you."

"Don't worry about that now, we're here to have a good time." Arthur smiled. Even though it was dark, the light from the torch shining away from their faces, Francis could still make out some of his features. But it was Arthur's tone, the steadiness in his low voice that told Francis to stop fretting. Instead of saying anything more, Francis climbed into the bed of the truck, settling himself into a particularly soft pillow close to Arthur's side. Some more of his tension left as Arthur put an arm around him, holding onto his waist.

"Now boys, why don't you show Francis the constellations you know."

"Ooh oh!" Matthew jumped up, "That one there is Ursa Major! The big bear. Rawwr." He brought his hands up to his face making claws as he growled at Francis. Matthew's soft voice sharply contrasted with the idea of a bear he was trying to intimidate. Francis chuckled softly.

"What a scary bear!" He replied, making Matthew giggle and look up innocently at him with large, almost purple eyes in the dim light.

It was Alfred's turn to point out a constellation, "Oh yeah, well if you're a bear, I'm Orion! The hunter! Don't worry, fair maiden! I will save you from the bear!" Alfred jumped on top of Matthew and they both burst into a fit of giggles.

"Noooo." Matthew called as Alfred fake stabbed him with an invisible sword. Then Matthew put on a very dramatic act of falling over dead and lay motionless.

"Ha ha! The hero saves the day again!" Francis gave Alfred his very best mock swoon before glancing over at Matthew, noticing a faint smile on the child's face.

"Matthew it's your turn!" Alfred said, bouncing up and down. Matthew remained completely still though.

"Matthew?"

"Oh darn, it looks like you've actually killed Matthew this time." Arthur chimed in, pursing his lips to hide the smile that was threatening to break onto his face.

Alfred looked horrified, "What? NO! MATTIE WAKE UP! DON'T DIE ON ME!" Francis himself was now having a hard time suppressing his laughter as Alfred tried to shake Matthew awake and Matthew stubbornly refused to stop playing dead. Alfred's shaking jostled Matthew so much that his eyes fluttered open and he couldn't fake being totally dead anymore so he settled on mortally wounded.

"Leave me, brother!" It was so overly dramatic and yet so adorable, "I am not long for this world."

"No! Matthew I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill you, please don't die!" Finally Matthew couldn't continue to suppress his own giggles. Alfred stood there stunned as he realized Matthew had been pulling his leg.

"You're so gullible, Al." Matthew said as innocently as he could given his recent trickery.

"I am not!" Alfred said confidently. He crossed his arms and pouted his lips.

"Yes you are, you didn't even stab me with anything. How could I possibly die?" Matthew's eyes were going to roll right out of his head. Arthur started laughing more loudly and then Francis couldn't contain his own laughter any longer.

"Yeah, well….what if had been the aliens?" Alfred tried desperately to defend himself. The amount of eye rolling coming from Matthew was seriously astounding. Was this really the kid he kept talking about so endearingly in school?

The night continued much in the same way, even throughout the meal Francis had brought for everyone. It was an hour or two after eating when both of the twins finally passed out from exhaustion. Alfred was curled up next to Arthur, and Matthew next to Francis, burying his head in Francis' side. Now that it had quieted down, Francis could actually begin to enjoy how pleasant the night was. For a long time, neither Arthur nor Francis spoke a word. Partially to make sure that they didn't wake the kids, and partially because Francis didn't want to talk about the unpleasant previous date.

"You know, every day could be like this." Arthur finally broke the silence, being as quiet as possible. His arm was still around Francis, but suddenly it felt much warmer against his side than it had all night. Francis looked Arthur in the eyes, startled by how green they appeared in the light of the torch and by the statement itself.

"Are you ever going to tell me what those letters were about?" Francis couldn't stop himself from asking the question. He had been dying to know all day.

Arthur sighed, not in exasperation, but more like he had been expecting the question. Francis hardly breathed throughout the whole explanation.

"I know…I know you were upset that I wasn't sleeping with you. I wanted you to know it's not because I don't find you attractive or anything. I've had some of the most excellent dates with you out of anyone. Which is why I wanted to do this right. I don't know what your previous relationships have been like, but when you go too fast, it has a tendency to burn out quickly."

Francis was beginning to put the pieces together, but it wasn't all quite making sense yet. "Are you trying to equate sleeping together with gold?"

Arthur shrugged, "In a way, you could say that."

Ok, that was one piece, but it still didn't make complete sense, Arthur continued, "Gold is selfish, greedy…materialistic. When you focus on the gold, you miss the parts of the relationship that can sustain it throughout the years."

"I mean, I know there's more to a relationship than just sex, mon ami. But why does that mean it has to wait? Why can't you just love someone fully from the beginning? Why isn't love gold itself?"

Arthur thought for a moment. Francis gave him time to collect his thoughts and formulate a response. "There are other precious things in the world besides gold. Things that last a lot longer. Diamonds for example. It's important to spend time making sure you nurture all of the precious parts of a relationship before settling on the shiniest, most obviously valuable thing when there are other, maybe more valuable parts."

Francis was stunned. He had never stopped to consider that maybe sleeping with people on the first date itself had been the reason he hadn't found someone who loved him as deeply as he wished. It had been a long time since Francis was at a loss for words. Arthur tightened his grip on Francis' waist and placed a kiss on his forehead before resting his cheek on the top of Francis' head.

They stayed there like that all night. Francis silently coming to terms with the idea that Arthur actually did love him. That it wasn't all a ruse. He drifted off to sleep with dreams of a new life involving Arthur and the two adorable kids that had fallen asleep on top of them.

[something about the animals noises at night]