And there it is, finally, a new chapter. Pardon the delay but I had very very difficult exams to do! *Sniffle*

I hope you'll enjoy!

And I do not own hetalia!

Chapter 3 Mrs Wingon and Francis Bonnefoy

Matthew really liked London, it had a different atmosphere then the major cities in America and he liked how polite the people were in this country. He had always liked polite people, they would never be mean to him when he couldn't finish a simple sentence. Maybe that was why, sometimes, Alfred could annoy him so very much…Then again, Matthias was rude a lot of the time too. Matthew liked to think he was a polite person, but if he was honest with himself; Matthew didn't really talk enough to be considered polite or nice, just quiet. Matthew, the quiet twin. Quiet, invisible, a lot of the time people just didn't notice him right away; he guessed with a twin brother like Alfred it was inevitable.

Yeah.

He really wished people didn't notice him right about now. He was embarrassed beyond believe. Why you ask? Alfred, who else? His twin brother was such a American. A stereotypical American tourist, doing all the cliché and stereotypical things that stereotypical Americans do. Talking loudly (and obnoxiously), saying everything in America is smarter, bigger and better. He's wearing a bandana that said 'I was in London' for god's sake! The sunglasses (even though there is no sun) just complete the whole picture.

After their visit to the hospital, Matthias had told them he was going to the nearest police station, since in the hospital couldn't tell him anything about the woman's previous whereabouts because of privacy rules (he tried to flash his badge but it was a American one so London was a little out of his jurisdiction). At the police station he would (hopefully) get the right clearances to gain right to the protected files. So Matthias had said to them that they should go and enjoy the city some more because 'it would take a butt load of time to get it all done'.

So, them being the perfect little angels they were (well Matthew) they decided to listen to their guardian of sorts and they went to have fun in London (Which isn't very hard to do), Alfred albeit a little louder than Matthew. They had a nice time, seeing all the famous sites; the big ben, the London eye, the bridge… It was all very interesting, even if people kept bumping into him because he was practically invisible. But it was already late and Matthew could feel himself getting tired, he could see by the way Alfred was dragging his feet that the normally energetic blonde was tired as well. So when they came across a playground (which was abandoned this time in the evening) they both gratefully lowered themselves on the two swings.

After that it was silent for a while, Matthew supposed they both had things to think about. The quiet blonde still wasn't happy about the fact he had been dragged all over the world to do things his big brother had specifically said not to do, but he was here now and he guessed he should make peace with that. However, this didn't soothe his fears and it certainly didn't ease his crippling guilt.

"Mattie?" a voice shook him from his thoughts and he looked up in the sky-blue eyes of his twin. Matthew had always been envious of those eyes, they were so very pretty and seemed to go so well with his brother's personality.

"Yes?" he answered.

"How do you think she took it?" Matthew knew immediately who the other boy meant, and a small smile eased onto his face; though it didn't always look that way, Alfred had the biggest heart there was. He could care so much about people. Huh, his brother was truly bipolar.

"I don't know, she seemed pretty out of it, Alfred."

The silence returned after that and Matthew didn't know how to break it. He was so different from his twin, Alfred could do anything he set his mind to, but he himself, scared little Matthew, couldn't even break a damned silence.

"Look…" Matthew's head shot up, Alfred had spoken again. "I know I haven't been the best brother lately" He saw Alfred's hands tighten on the strings. "Neither have I been a good roommate or boyfriend. So firstly, I want to apologize to you, I should've handled everything better with Matthias and Kiku and you…"

Matthew was surprised, he tried to catch his brother's eyes but the boy was looking down. "Alfred it's okay."

"Is it really? Wouldn't Arthur turn in his grave if he saw the way I've been acting?"

Matthew starting swinging softly, and Alfred looked up. The quiet teen tried to give the other a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Alfred, you're coming around aren't you? Besides, if you want to please ghost-Arthur maybe you should start by speaking correct and civilised English."

Alfred snorted a smile slipping on his face. "Yeah, I remember, the dude could become unreasonably angry about that. Always picking on me! Never so much as a peep to you, it wasn't fair." Alfred gave a little pout.

"That's because I speak English correctly."

"Tch, you messed up just as much as I did! But nooooo~! Matthew is too sweet to lecture! The little angel!"

Matthew sputtered, insulted. "I never messed up!"

"You sure did little bro."

"No I didn't, and we're the same age, I'm not your 'little bro'."

"Yes you did! And your smaller than me, that makes you the little brother."

"I didn't! And your logic is flawed!"

"You totally did, dude, and logic-schmogic"

"Hah, 'totally' and 'dude' don't sound very gentleman-ly to me!"

"Ah Mattie~! Just accept that you were Artie's little angel!"

"…I will not."

Alfred laughed, a carefree loud one. Those were rare these days but Matthew loved hearing them. Then Alfred began to swing on his swing, higher and higher. After a moments deliberation with Matthew's inner self who was telling him he wasn't a five year old kid anymore, he thought 'what the heck' and the blonde followed his twin brother's example. They continued like that for a while, until Alfred suddenly began to shout in a obnoxiously loud voice (probably disturbing half the neighbourhood).

"MATTIE! Can I tell you a SECRET?"

Bewildered Matthew looked towards his brother and raised an eyebrow.

"WHAT?"

"A SECRET!"

"NO! I mean; what's the secret?"

"OH!"

"Alfred!"

"…ARE YOU READY FOR IT?"

"Yes, Alfred, I'm ready!"

"IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT SECRET!"

"Just tell me!"

"I THINK I LOST OUR HOTEL KEY!"

And then it began to rain.

They should all just die. Die in a fire. All those uncooperative bastards! It was already eleven in the evening and he hadn't made any progress. He was send from one corner of the huge building to another and Matthias had the sneaking suspicion those inhuman britts were pulling his leg, deceiving him. He knew they could just take a look in the computer and the information would just come rolling out, but those annoying people wouldn't give him anything!

And why was the police building so freaking huge? It wasn't normal! Twelve stories! Huffing and puffing Matthias arrived at the seventh uninterested looking secretary, he had been send here by the previous one; this one supposedly could check out if he now had clearance to view the woman's files (now, after hours of jurisdiction mumble jumbo).

Matthias was tired, but not so tired as to not see that the secretary was really sexy, though a little flat-chested, he really had a thing for the business-like woman. But she was inspecting her nails with great intensity and Matthias had a nagging suspicion one of the other secretary's had warned her about the 'arrogant, rowdy, American cop' as the fat middle-aged secretary at the fifth floor had oh-so-gracefully called him.

He stepped forward determinately, slamming the documents he had been given on the second floor on the gleaming desk. Annoyed the woman looked up, her green eyes glaring at Matthias, long eyelashes fluttering. Matthias was momentarily stunned by her pretty-ness, the half long pale blond hair looking soft to the touch, the pink plump lips a rosy red, the pretty delicate neck with a bobbling Adams apple-

Wait, what?

Ademsapple?

"You're a dude!"

The pretty green eyes hardened it's glare. "That's like, so rude! I totally dislike you now, you brute man. " She –no, he, HE!- grabbed the nail polish which stood in hand reach and perched his legs on the desk. Once again inspecting the gleaming red nails, the she-male waved disinterestedly his way.

"What do you want?"

Ignoring the secretary's overall rudeness (after all, he had been rude too) he impatiently tapped the documents on the desk with his fist. "I need clearance to look into the personal files of a woman named Elizabeth White, currently residing in Britannia Angel hospital,-"

"You're totally wrong here, dearie, Go to the second floor, get the files ZX-B then you need to go over to the administration division of cases which deal with fraud, which located is like, really close. Get the required documents there. After that, come back, I'll be totally ready to help you!"

That damn person. The whole time the pretty blonde had kept studying his nails and had never even glanced his way. Matthias could feel his blood starting to boil.

"The woman down below said all I needed were these documents, which took hours to acquire!"

The green eyed witch took one small glance towards the documents perched on the table before speaking again. "You totally spoke to Marcy, always getting the documents wrong. Like, those are documents ZC-B, you need the ZX-B."

"Look here, woman, ehm man.-"

"I like to think I'm the best of both."

"Whatever, I've been scouring this god-forsaken place for hours now, going from infuriating woman to annoyingly arrogant men! And now you're telling me that because of some mistake made by
Margret-"

"Marcy."

"Marcy sorry, That because some mistake made by Marcy I have to begin all over again." He felt his blood boiling, his head becoming a nasty shade of red.

And still the man kept inspecting his nails, now using one hand to apply a new cover of shiny nail polish.

"No need to like, totally freak out, mistakes are totally human."

"What if… what if I tell you… you look amazing and strikingly beautiful?"

Not even a glance, the blonde just breathed on the freshly painted nails. "Flattery will totally get you into my pants, not access to restricted information. That would, like, cost me my job."

The urge to wrap his hands around the skinny blondes neck was strong, but he managed to calm himself just in time. Tiredly he rubbed his temples. He was going to make it, he just needed to be patient.

"Alright." Matthias gritted out. "Tell me again, what do I need to do to acquire the right documents?"

The pale blonde gave a large sigh, as if helping Matthias was the worst thing ever. "Like, can't you remember? Go to the second floor, get the files ZC-B-"

"I have those here!"

"Oh, like totally. I meant the files ZX-B, like get those and then go to the Britannia Angels hospital-"

"But didn't you just say something else-"

"Who's the secretary here? I'm totally speaking the truth here! Get the files ZX-B on the third floor and after that go to the shelter for misused animals to get the other required documents and after that you can come back to me and I'll totally help you!"

Matthias clenched his fists and his teeth, he was ready to forcefully gain access to the computer which held the answer to all his problems when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Feliks?" Matthias turned around, behind him stood a rather short, brown-haired, sane looking man, frowning slightly. "What are you doing? I thought I told you to wait in the hall? Why are you behind my desk?"

Now the blonde did react, in seconds the guy –now dubbed Feliks- shot up, sitting dignified on the office chair and smiling sweetly. "Toris! I thought I would, like, totally help you out when you were in the little boys room! I totally solved this man's troubles!"

Matthias saw the brown haired dude's eyes access the situation, first going over the innocently smiling blonde, then towards the documents stacked on the desk, before moving to his own –rather livid looking- face. Matthias could see realisation sinking in.

The man named Toris paled.

"Feliks! Why don't you go downstairs, officer Mangles wants some fashion advice." Toris gently told the other. Which Matthias found quite strange; if someone raped his workplace he wouldn't be so nice.

"Like really? He finally listened? I'm going!"

After the blonde had dashed of, the brown haired took a seat behind the desk and tapped his computer to life. After that, he turned to Matthias and folded his hand on top of the desk. The difference between the two men was astounding.

"I'm sorry about Feliks, he's a little… enthusiastic."

Matthias wanted to shout at the man too, relieve some of his anger and frustration. But the brown-haired man looked so apologetic and sad –like a kicked puppy- that his anger flowed right out of him. He'd always been a sucker for those big innocent eyes, that's why Arthur had been able to pull so much shit with him when he was roaring drunk. He took a deep breath, he had to hold it together.

"I need clearance to look into the personal files of a woman named Elizabeth White, currently residing in Britannia Angel hospital, anything you can give me."

Toris frowned at the mention of Arthur's mother's name, but Matthias was too tired to pay much attention to it. He shoved the documents and his badge towards the brown-haired man, who took one look at the American badge, before starting to flip through the files.

"Those files with the badge will suffice, detective."

Matthias looked surprised at the other man, had he heard right? Was it finally over?

"Do you mean...?"

"Yes, detective, you're done."

The man, Toris, gave Matthias a small and gentle smile and the blonde could just hug him and kiss him and fuck him. Besides, The brown haired man wasn't bad looking at all, maybe if this was all over they could have a nice night under the stairs? Having sex and stuff? Matthias was momentarily distracted by thoughts which were the result of his personality and the fact that he hadn't gotten any for far too long now. Toris moved to his computer, furiously ticking away on the keyboard.

"Ah, here we are, Elizabeth White… 45 years old, residing at Britannia Angel's hospital due to medical problems…"

"Yes, that's her!"

"In possession of a house in downhill street 639 together with husband, Harris Johnson, who is currently still residing in that house. .. She has a son, but he was taken away in foster care… been admitted to the hospital for quite some years. I shall print these documents for you, alright?"

Matthias grinned. "Yes, please do that! Thanks a lot dude!"

And then, finally, after hours of searching and hoping, he acquired the new information that could bring them one step closer to discover which bastard had laid a finger on his best friend.

"So…Toris isn't it? How about you and your blonde friend come with me? I can assure a good night!"

He grinned sweetly (perverted) down at the now red-faced Toris, a high shriek the only warning as a fist adorned with bright red nails collided with his head, making a nice solid dent.

Matthew was already sleeping soundly when that idiot Matthias finally decided to graze them with his company, his poor twin had worried and worried when they had discovered that Matthias still wasn't home when they returned to the hotel room. It had taken a lot of whining on his part to get Matthew into his bed and to stop pacing around, but as predicted, Mathew had fallen asleep as soon as his head fell on the pillow. Alfred himself, although he really wanted some shut eye too, decided to wait for the guy to come home, since he was a freaking hero and because he really, really, really wanted to know if Matthias had found something out. So yes, Matthew was already sleeping when the other came home, freaking late of course, out of breath and with a huge bump on his forehead. Alfred had planned to scold the other for being so late (because he almost never got to scold anyone, dammit!) but seeing Matthias in that pitiful state he wasn't able to scold him anymore… he was too busy laughing his ass of.

"Dude, what the hell did you do?"

From his place on the bed Alfred saw the other grimace and softly close the door, after that he continued to remove his shoes, ignoring Alfred's laughter. He slowly moved towards his own bed and let himself fall on it with a loud sign. A low whiny sound rang through the room and Alfred let another snicker pass his lips.

"London sucks." The blonde man moaned.

"It does? Mattie and I had a blast." Alfred told the other happily. "Though everyone is really polite, kind of creepy, not really my thing. But Mattie seemed to like it, though that guy seems to like everything. Seriously do you know what he was reading this morning-"

"Alfred." Came the voice from the big man half-passed out on the bed. "Please shut up, I've had a very, very, very long day."

"Did you at least make any progress, old man?" Alfred loved messing with Matthias, even after all these years, it didn't lose any of its fun.

A low growl answered him. "I did." Alfred could just make out a raised hand waving vaguely towards the door. "It's in my coat, information on his mother. Took me forever to get."

Within seconds Alfred had grabbed the piece of paper and was back inside his warm comfortable bed, in the meantime Matthias had crawled into his bed too, clothes and all. Which was totally cool by his standards, but Alfred knew Matthew would have a fit the next morning (read, a Matthew fit; silently muttering to himself). Alfred interestedly read the information on the paper. There wasn't a whole lot on it, just the woman's name, house address (which was useful for them), marital status (she was married?), she had been married once before and had been staying in the Britannia Angel Hospital for a freakishly long time and of course, there was a mention of Arthur, but…

"Arthur was in foster care?"

Matthias, who undoubtedly had almost fallen asleep, groaned. "Apparently, now shut up, I want to sleep."

"Why do you think he was?" Alfred frowned, looking at the dates behind the information.

"Couldn't very well stay with an insane mother, could he?" The pillow smothered the sound of the man's voice considerably, but Alfred could still hear him.

"But… that can't be it…"

Matthias shot up. "For god's sake Alfred, are you pulling the same stunt you did at the hospital? Look, Arthur was a good guy but he wasn't a saint-"

"That's not what I meant." Alfred interrupted him.

"…What?"

"It says here… That Elizabeth was committed when she was 31 and Arthur would've been… around 13? Yeah, 13. But he was placed in foster care at the age of 15, it says right here."

This got the other's attention, Matthias looked up, frowning. "What? I hadn't even seen that yet."

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, I really don't. I know that it isn't much information on that paper, but it's the only thing I could get out of them. We'll go to Elizabeth's old house tomorrow, see what's there, maybe talk to the husband."

Alfred let his eyes trail the letters of the husband's name. "That doctor said nobody visited the woman, but… why didn't the husband?"

Matthias shrugged, letting himself fall face first in the pillow again. "Maybe he's an asshole."

"Maybe…" Alfred lay the paper away, crawling deeper under the blankets and turning to lay on his side. From this position he could see Matthias lying with his back to him. Within minutes Alfred could hear the man's heavy breath, signalling that he was sleeping.

"I'll bet downhill street is a real nice place, with posh and expensive buildings." Alfred whispered to himself, silent as to not to wake the two others. "And Arthur lived in a great big mansion… that would be so him. With maids and servants and animals all around."

And with that thought Alfred fell asleep, with a smile on his face. Ignoring the insistent little voice in his head that kept telling him that if Arthur had such a nice life, why was he placed in foster care, why was his mother all alone in a small hospital room and finally, why would his big brother even bothered to move to America?

The following day they woke up early and Matthias bought a map to see where they should be headed. It was far too expensive to hire a cab every time they needed to go somewhere, so first the trio went to a car rental shop and picked out the most awful car ever; Alfred had wanted a nice shiny sport car but apparently they all thought he was an idiot for saying that, which wasn't cool ya know? Because he was super smart and stuff and his ideas were always super awesome.

But yeah, so they rented a car he never wanted his friends back in the good US of awesome A to see him in and went on the drive-of-hell, ever driven through London on the busiest day of the week, at a time when everybody went on a break? No? Never do! Even a soft spoken angel like Matthew was getting irritated and that was sure an indication that the drive sucked major bowling balls. Luckily, as they drove longer and longer, the busy streets seemed to vanish, making place for a more relaxed driving environment. Though, the more they drove and the closer they came to their destination, the crappier the neighbourhoods seemed to become.

Alfred had a suspicious feeling that it wouldn't be a mansion they would find at downhill street.

And he was right, the one time he didn't want to be.

Downhill street was an absolute mess, all the houses were ugly, filthy, broken, all the people walked around with grim faces and everything just screamed; poor. Arthur's mother's house wasn't much better, old and falling apart at the seams. It didn't sit well with Alfred, he had wanted Arthur to come from a better living environment. The three men made their way to the front door and, after discovering the bell was broken, knocked on the door.

Nobody.

They tried again but still didn't get an answer. Well, that was frustrating, it would've been nice if they could talk to the husband. Matthew and Matthias decided to look in the back and Alfred told them he would stay in cause the husband showed. While he was waiting he noticed an old, old, old woman with an equally old dog, she walked, leaning heavily on her walking stick, through her tiny garden and bend to pick up the newspaper that lay innocently in the grass. At least, she tried to bend, but her old age got in the way and she was having trouble getting the paper. Well, luckily for her he was a hero, Alfred smiled, he would help anyone in distress!

Alfred quickly approached the struggling woman and picked the newspaper from the grass with once fluid motion. The woman, startled, looked up and when she saw his friendly blue eyes, his easy smile and the newspaper in his helpful hand she promptly hit him on the kneepad with her walking stick.

"Thief! Stealing my newspaper, not today boy!" The lady moved from his kneepads to his head and it hurt. Who knew old ladies could hit so hard? Dear god he was getting beaten up!

"Oh! AH! Madam, please stop! I was just picking it up for you!"

"Spawn of the devil, bothering an old lady like me, well in my day you would've been hanged, hanged I tell you!"

"Here, HERE! Take it! Please god stop hitting me!" Alfred shoved the newspaper into the badass granny's hands. Badass granny immediately stopped harassing him and she clutched the paper tightly in her hands. "Don't steal from me again, lad!" She glared a glare of pure fire and hate at him.

"I wasn't stealing." Alfred tried to defend himself, afraid the woman would resort to her stick of death again. "I picked it up for you."

It was surprising how swiftly those words changed the woman's behaviour. The glare melted away, she leaned on her cane again (heavily) and her face positively glowed with sunshine, rainbows and lollypops.

"Oh dear boy, you were trying to help me? What a good lad you are, helping a defenceless old woman like me." Alfred really didn't think the old lady was defenceless. "Will you be a good boy and come into my house, you're such a strong and capable boy and I'm having some troubles with the furniture, you see. You can have a nice cup of tea and help me move some stuff like the good strong boy you are."

Well, of course Alfred would help such a badass/sweet little old lady move some things, he was the hero after all!

"Of course! Oh! My brother and uncle-something will be back in a minute! They'll help too." He gave the woman a huge grin. The woman delightedly clapped her hands.

"Oh such sweet things you are! I'll go inside to set some tea for such brave men!"

Four minutes later all three of them were standing in the dimly lit living room.

Four hours later and they finally finished everything the lady instructed them to do. Matthew and Matthias had wanted to bail but Alfred wouldn't let them; they had made a promise and a hero never went back on his promises! Tired, the three of them went to sit on the uncomfortable sofa, the old lady-Miss Wingon was her name- was still sitting on the same chair she had been sitting those four hours, and they all drank their tea. The old but big dog was sitting at the woman feet, chewing on a toy.

"Dearies, thank so much for helping me! God knows my neighbours never do anything for a poor old lady like me, it's simply horrid the way they act."

Matthias perked up. "Your neighbours… have you lived here long?"

The woman nodded. "Almost thirty years, right after my late husband died, terrible accident you see, terrible."

"I'm sorry." Alfred whispered, he hated seeing the woman sad.

"I wonder," Matthias continued. "can you tell us something about your neighbour to the right, a man?"

The woman scoffed. "A dimwit that one, does nothing but drink, horrible man. He's away to a friend's right now, he'll be back in a few days." She sipped her tea, her grey eyebrows in a frown. "She really should've found a better man, though she was not so much better herself"

"Miss White?"

"Yes, Elizabeth. Stupid woman, with her looks she could've had it all. Drugs and alcohol, a dangerous combination. Elizabeth was nothing but a foolish little tramp."

Alfred recoiled slightly, such sharp words.

"W-what about h-her s-s-son?" Matthew whispered, Alfred had forgotten he was there too. Apparently the woman too because she looked confused in his direction as if just realizing the soft spoken boy was there too.

"Yes Arthur, a nice enough boy, would help me around the house sometimes. But that boy was just like all the others, thinking nothing of making a ruckus in the middle of the night. No one ever took in account there was an elderly woman living in the neighbourhood. Though back then I was slightly younger, but not by much."

"How…" Alfred began. "how did they live? Where they happy?"

The granny put her teacup on the table. "No one who lives here is happy, lad, Elizabeth was a horrid mother with an even more horrible boyfriend and although Arthur was her son, he took more care of her than she took care of him."

Alfred diverted his gaze. Taking care of his own mother and later taking care of them. Had Arthur never had someone who took care of him?

"There was one." Alfred looked up, startled. Had he spoken out loud? "I think they took care of each other, Arthur and Francis Bonnefoy."

Both Matthew and him stiffened, remembering Arthurs final words.

Matthew was the first to speak. "F-francis B-bonnefoy?"

"Yes, handsome boy, but so very French. Francis and his snobby parents moved to the neighbourhood when he was around eight. Horrible people the Bonnefoys, thought they were so much better than the rest of us, would never visit a woman like me. Moved from France, apparently they had been some big shots in that horrid country but something went amiss and they had to move to London."

"Where they friends?"

"I honestly don't know, on the surface they hated each other, yet they were always together… and then, that one night…"

"One night?"

"Yes, That awful boyfriend was making a ruckus once again…"

They were at it again, making so much noise that she couldn't even read her book in peace, those insufferable gits! What did she do to end up with such noisy neighbours, rude too; wouldn't even help her when she asked for simple house chores, things she couldn't do anymore, her body was too old for that kind of work. Luckily it was silent again now, Mrs Wingon tried once again to concentrate on her book, slurping tea from a teacup. It really was horrid that her neighbours, all of them, weren't accommodating her better, selfish, all of them!

A loud scream interrupted her thoughts and the old lady sighed as the screaming began again, simply disgusting, bothering an old lady like her with their petty fights and whatnot. She sighed again when the screaming was accompanied with a loud crash and this time not only the man and woman were yelling; a younger voice had joined them. Pity, the woman had thought the young boy to be more considerate, bothering his elders like that, how unsightly. When the voices – especially that of the man- became even louder and a loud piercing scream once again ripped through the silent evening she had enough. Determinately and with considerable effort the woman heaved herself up from the chair and whistled softly, attracting the attention of her sweetheart. Lilly came immediately, her tong hanging out and breathing heavily. The old lady smiled affectionately down at the dog, her sweet little Lilly. Well little, she wasn't little, being a Sint Bernard, but she was still her little doggy-smoggy. Mrs Wingon moved towards the door, Lilly dutifully following her, tail wagging. She would tell them they should keep it down, she was trying to read after all and it was just terrible how they were disturbing an old lady like her, they would listen to her; her neighbour was terribly afraid of her sweet little Lilly.

The old woman shivered when she stepped outside, it being much colder than she had expected, the noise was louder now too and she frowned her eyebrows in annoyance, Lilly stepping loyally beside her, she slowly made her way towards the house of her neighbours. She had almost crossed her garden when the front door of the other house slammed open. Two people appeared, the little tramp's despicably loud boyfriend was one of them, the other was Arthur, the son of said despicable tramp. Mrs Wingon despised the boyfriend the most, since he was often responsible for all the noise in that house, he was rude too! Never wanted to help an old lady like herself out. The old woman remembered a time when she wasn't being bothered by such sounds from that house, years ago, the one time that little tramp had found a good man, a good husband. Mrs Wingon had liked that man, he would always check up on her and bring a fresh batch of those delicious cookies with him. But, in the end her open-her-legs-to-anyone-neighbour had messed that relationship up royally.

The boyfriend was dragging Arthur out of the house by the arm, the grip looked frim, tight and forceful and the boy stumbled to keep up with the man's long legs. The big man's face was red and the insufferable git kept shouting awful obscenities, beside the old woman Lilly started to growl. Finally the man threw Arthur on the ground and after a few more shouted insults the man whirled around and stormed into the house once again, slamming the door closed, there was one last high scream from inside before all went silent again; Mrs Wingon knew she wouldn't be bothered by her neighbours again that night, though it seemed that the family two houses to the right were getting in a fight too, bloody awful neighbourhood this was. The woman glanced at the boy sitting on the dirty ground, he seemed fine enough and she wasn't some charitable organisation, patting Lilly gently on the head Mrs Wington decided it would be best to return to her house. A voice halted her in her tracks, and when she turned around and looked towards Arthur once again, the French boy with the snobby I'm-better-than-you parents was walking Arthur's way. Interested, Mrs Wingon kept standing there, partly hidden by the large trees and the dark night sky; the French boy, Francis, fascinated her; she just knew that the boy would grow up to be extremely handsome and successful, she always had an eye for those things.

"Arthur is that you?" Francis walked straight towards the boy still sitting on the ground, his steps determent and steady. When he reached the other boy, the French lad crouched before the other, hands on his knees. "You look pitiful, mon ami."

Arthur's head seemed to shoot up and if Mrs Wangon had been standing a little closer she was sure she would've seen the boy's eyes burning with a fierce fire. That same look Arthur always shot the French boy; nobody was really sure what to make of the two boy's relationship, they seemed to be always fighting and they said they hated each other's guts, but you could always find them together, it was quite strange.

"Oh, shut up frog, did you come here to insult me or something?" Arthur spat at the other, his impressive eyebrows frowned in annoyance.

"Non, I came here to see if I could be of some assistance, sourcils, I didn't expect you to be in such an undignified state though, quite despicable, is it not?"

"Shut it and no, I don't need your 'assistance', you never know what that entails with you, bloody pervert. Now will you leave? You're French perfume in smothering me."

Mrs Wangon had heard the stories about Francis, although the boy was barely thirteen years old, he seemed to have gained quite a reputation. Also, Arthur sure wasn't lying about the boys perfume, she could smell it from way over there and Lilly was whimpering, sticking her cute little nose in the dirt to escape the smell.

"Je désolé! You wound me, dear Arthur, I am merely a lover of romance, no pervert." The boy mockingly placed his hand on his heart, before he seemed to notice something and moved to touch the other boys lip. Arthur couldn't contain a tiny flinch. "You have a split lip." Francis's tone had changed, becoming more serious. "Do you have other injuries I should know about, mon petit lapin?"

Arthur slapped the other's hand away and moved to stand, looming over the still crouched down Francis. "Don't call me that, it's a horrid nickname. And no, I don't have other injuries thank-you-very-much. Now will you-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Mrs Wingon blushed as Francis stood up in one fluid movement and lifted the other boy's shirt. It seemed that the pervert rumours had some truth in them.

"No other injuries? I'm merely checking if you're not lying, my dear Arthur. Honhonhon, what perky nipples you have."

"LET GO!" Arthur tried to pry the offending hand of his person but Fancis was persistent. A few seconds later the French boy lowered the other's shirt once again, and grinned (leered). "Très magnifique , it seems that you weren't lying, you've improved my dear." Calculating, Francis looked down towards the other boys trousers. "Though… maybe beneath your horrid pants…"

"Don't even think about removing my trousers, frenchie. And stop speaking so much frog-language, it's quite annoying! Now are we going to your house or not?"

"Oui, my lovely parents are sleeping, I can sneak you in without any problems."

"Good, let's go. I'm freezing my arse off here!"

"And what a nice derrière it-"

"One more word and I'm shoving your face against the wall, repeatedly."

Both boys started walking towards the other boys house.

"You really need an attitude adjustment, cher."

"And you need to learn to respect peoples personal space."

Mrs Wangon kept looking at the two boys until the two disappeared inside the other's house, bickering all the way. Music was blasting somewhere far away and the shouting two houses to the right had increased in volume, but she found that this time she didn't mind. The two boy's relationship, it fascinated her, and she couldn't help but notice that beneath the insults and sharp looks there was something more between them. Something she had caught a glimpse of that evening. Shrugging she turned around and made the tiring trip back towards her bedroom, she needed a good night sleep.

Lilly followed her like the sweet loyal dog she was.

All three where silent after that story and Alfred had his fist clenched, the story was true he knew that, the way Arthur behaved was just so Arthur. But at the same time he wished it wasn't, because what shocked him the most wasn't some friendship Arthur seemed to have had with a French boy, it was the fact that Arthur had been dragged out of his own home, and discarded in the garden like… like trash. Francis had asked if he had sustained any injuries for god's sake!

"Did…" next to him Matthias started talking again. "That sort of thing happen often, I mean… the neighbours making a 'ruckus'?"

The woman nodded, clearly angry about it. "Yes, very often, disgraceful isn't it? Bothering an old lady like m-"

"Why didn't you call the police?" Matthew's hand encircled his, Alfred knew his voice sounded cold, but he didn't care. "why didn't they help?"

"I called plenty about noise complaint, dear boy, but-"

"Not for you! For Arthur and his mother! Obviously something very wrong was happening there!" Had that been the reason Arthur was send to foster care?

Alfred knew he was losing control over his anger, just like the day before. But it was just so hard to hear all those things. It was hard to imagine that his brother had been through those things, it wasn't right, Arthur was meant to live in a great mansion with loving parents and lots of friends.

"So rude! Watch your manners boy!" The woman looked terribly insulted and anger was apparent in her eyes. She wasn't an badass super granny, Alfred realised, she was a selfish, bitter old woman who ignored the needs of a thirteen year old boy alone in the middle of the night.

"Mrs Wingon," Matthias started, apparently calm, but Alfred could see how tense he was. "Surely you could've alerted the police something fishy was going on?"

"I don't think you understand, Mister, We live at the bottom of society, which means that the police never comes to help us, they only come to arrest and torment us. No matter if I called or not, they wouldn't have come. That's the reality."

"B-but Arthur w-was placed in foster c-c-care, w-wasn't h-he? A-after Elizabeth White was admitted to the hospital."

"Foster care? Never knew about that. Elizabeth's ex-husband admitted her to the hospital, apparently he came back to check up on her."

"So Arthur stayed with this ex-husband after she was admitted?"

"Goodness no, a few months before Elizabeth was admitted Arthur disappeared, the ex-husband threw a right fit about that."

"Disappeared?" They all said straight at that.

"One day he was just gone, I never saw him anymore. Elizabeth and the boyfriend never said a word about it. I take it he had enough and ran away."

Alfred looked unbelievingly at the woman, a child had disappeared, hadn't she thought that was strange?

"And you still didn't call anyone?"

"I never stick my nose in other people's dirty laundry."

She just didn't care, did she? She had never cared. She only seemed to care about herself. Alfred was ready to lunge at her, no matter how old and dangerous she was. Matthias steady hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"That's enough Alfred, We will visit the Bonnefoys too, they live a few houses over?"

Matthias hand was squeezing his shoulder like no tomorrow, he must be angrier than he let on. Alfred closed his eyes, despite his anger and frustration he had to admit that they had found some things out; apparently Arthur had lived in this neighbourhood until he was thirteen and had disappeared from his house a few months before Elizabeth White had been admitted. At fifteen he would appear in foster care; that was a gap of two years, where had he lived those two years?

"No not anymore, Mrs Bonnefoys dream came true, they escaped from this place. Besides, if you want to talk to Francis, forget it. It's impossible."

What?

"Impossible? Why?"

"Go to the Bonnefoys, you'll understand. Now get out of my house, I'm tired."

The ringing of the phone starled him out of his toughts, who would be calling him?

One look at his cell and his question was answered.

Toris.

"Hello, sweet Toris, you have news, da?"

"H-Hey I-Ivan, Yes, I don't k-know if it's important but..."

"Tell me."

"Some guy is investigating Arthur's mother... He asked for information."

"Very interesting, did you give him any information?"

"Y-yes, b-but the bare m-minimum."

"Good, very good. now, which dimwit could possibly want to investigate kind, fierce Arthur? Maybe I should get my pipe, da?"

A letter from you

Mean, evil, despicable Arthur,

Do you even know what you've done? I will take hours, hours to get that nasty stuff out of my hair!

Mommy says she hates you now and you are bad for me. She says big ten-year-old boys like us should never act like this.

She says I can't play with you anymore, and I don't care! Because you're not my friend, no from today on… you are my rival.

You better be ready!

Bye,

Francis.

Good? Bad? Terrible-you-should-stop-writing-immidiately? Tell me! Tell me! Reviews are seriously important! It motivates me and helps me with my story! So yeah... R&R please ;)

Ow and don't worry, this isn't the last you'll hear about Francis, he'll be appearing in a whole lot of flashbacks, isn't that cool~?

Oh and I put it up but I had to change something so I put the changed version up. I hope all goes well ans the edited version will appear.

Oh, BTW about Matthew's America bashing thing in the beginning, I have nothing against americans! It's just that I see Alfred as the stereotypical american, and I was just listening to a song on youtube about stereotypes; ('I think I love you more than the japanese like tentical p*rn, let's come together and live in this world like a unibrow on a indian girl and we should dance, dance, dance to these stereotypes~!') which is a hilarious song, yeah good stuff~! We all get stereotyped hahaha.

(I do not own the stereotype song ;) )

Right. I think I killed my brain with my exams or something.

But yeah, I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as possible because a month is just far too long, M'sorry!

Fluffyfun91, out!