A/N: Hey guys!

*ducks for cover*

I'm so sorry! I haven't updated in ages! I was so busy during the holidays! And now, I'm back at school and starting exams and stuff, which means more homework and less time to write this and my other stories! But, I will hopefully be updating once a week!

ALL THE REVIEWS! Thank you all so much for your kind words! It keeps me updating!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these adorable dorks.

"Speaking"

'Signing'

'Thoughts'

And remember! Sentences… like… this… mean that our favourite dork is missing out on some parts of the sentences.

Chapter 7

"So… you… power point tonight?"

Arthur nodded and the Frenchman smiled.

"Great! ... good mark!"

"Yeah." The Brit muttered. He probably wouldn't get to go on the computer tonight. Not with every member of the family in.

"Wonderful! After… you… mine…?"

He really didn't understand what Francis was trying to say. But he couldn't tell him that. No, if that happened…

"Maybe." It seemed a safe answer, so he went with that.

Francis' expression saddened slightly, but was back to normal as quickly as it had changed.

The bell rang. The two rose from their seats.

"See you tomorrow." Arthur told Francis. The teen nodded.

"Tomorrow."

But Arthur missed the last part of the sentence, as he had already turned away and left the classroom.

He ran all the way home. Father really couldn't care less about him, and neither could mother. But Mary liked him to be back before four, and school got out at half past three.

The arrived at the flat. His siblings were all watching the TV again, all except for Dylan who was…

On the computer. Of course.

He sighed. It was almost guaranteed that this would happen.

Still, in the immortal words of some guy:

'You never know until you try.'

"Hey… Dylan?" His brother didn't even turn around. "Could I maybe go on the computer? I need to do a power point for homework. It's a really important piece of homework too, one that could change my school career for better or worse-"

It was at this point the blond decided to turn around.

"Shut up, will ya runt? Ya can't go on the bloody computer, because I'm using it!"

"But, Dylan, please, this is a really important bit of work-"

"N O spells no. Or is being deaf messed with ya brain?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur noticed Allistor throw his head back. He must have made a derogatory comment, because Dylan burst out laughing.

He dropped his head and made his way to their shared room. He knew this would happen. Now Francis would be disappointed with him, and that was bad because he wanted Francis to like him, and Francis was his friend but he wanted him to be so much more-

'What? I did not just think that! Nope, totally didn't. Francis is such a slimy, greasy frog, there's no way I could like him! I actually hate that frog, even though he is one of my only friends…

SHUT UP!'

But seriously now, Francis would hate him. Their whole grade for their report relied on this project, and if Arthur didn't hold up his side of the bargain… besides, it had to be in next week!

It was all because he was deaf. If he hadn't had contracted Meningitis, and if his immune system had've been up to it, then he wouldn't be here. He would still be at his old school with his old friends, his old band and his old life. His parents wouldn't resent him, and he actually might have a chance with Francis-

'DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO SHUT UP?!'

He buried himself beneath the covers of his bed. All he wanted right now was to be normal, not flawed, not useless and not deaf.

He wished with all his might, but that doesn't mean it would ever come true.

~oOo

Mary shook him awake at about eleven at night. She said that Dylan had stopped using the computer now, so he could use it if he wanted to. All the others had gone to bed. Well, except for mum, but that was to be expected.

He quietly snuck into the front room. The lights were off, cloaking the room in darkness.

Arthur tiptoed his way to the computer. It was old; bought in the nineties by his parents when they first moved into the flat. Its screen was cracked from when the Internet had been lost and Allistor had thrown a bottle of beer at it. He remembered finding it funny at the time.

But then again, it was before the illness.

He pressed the button and prayed to Freckled Jesus that it was on mute. He remembered the windows theme playing so loud, it woke the neighbours.

Thankfully, it must have been muted, because no one came and threw him back to bed. Either that or the sound had broken.

It was probably the latter.

Anyway, quietly thanking Freckled Jesus, he quickly accessed the Internet. The slowness of the computer plus the fact that he was using internet explorer meant that half an hour later and he had just typed in 'preparation of insoluble salts' into Google. It was then he realised he had all the information in his chemistry folder, and he didn't even need to access the internet anyway.

He really felt like throwing a beer bottle at the screen.

It was three in the morning that the finally sank back into bed, power point safely e-mailed to Francis and also put on a memory stick.

He was vaguely aware of his mum coming in the room before he fell asleep, out like a log.

~oOo~

"I hope you're aware of what I went through to get this." Arthur announced, sliding into his seat next to Francis. The Frenchman turned to face him, a perfect smile plastered on his perfect face.

"Wonderful!" He gasped, and Arthur found himself smiling. "Out of interest, what did you go through?"

"I had to wait until eleven o clock to start the bloody thing, and I was up until three."

"Do you have it?"

"On a memory stick." The teen clarified, rummaging about his bag for the USB.

He searched for it. He dumped all the books out of his bag and checked again. He looked in every pocket, even dumped his bag upside down. The memory stick was nowhere to be found.

"Thought… said… done…?" Francis asked, peering into the bag.

"I had!" Arthur snapped. "I swear on my mother's life I put it in here!"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!" He was sure he was shouting now, but he didn't care. People were staring, yet the tears still threatened to fall.

"Arthur, calm down-"

"No! It was in here! I swear!" He had disappointed Francis. He had let Francis down.

"Arthur, look at me. I believe you."

Then Matthew was there, pulling Arthur into his arms. He was openly crying now, knowing that he'd failed, he'd let Francis down, he'd hate him forever.

They were in another classroom, and Matthew was rocking him, holding him close in a tight embrace. His cries subsided into sniffles, and eventually stopped altogether.

The Canadian spun him around and held him at arm's length.

'What was that about?'

"I had the memory stick; I swear it was right there in my bag."

'Art, you're not making any sense.'

"I let Francis down. I let Francis down."

'Arthur, snap out of it!'

He was aware of the signing going on; he just couldn't bring himself to stop.

'That's it, you're coming to mine.'

The next thing he knew, he was in the old car, and it was driving away. He was still muttering, but it didn't matter.

Francis was sure to hate him now.

And that was all that mattered, wasn't it? He was the only one that had ever cared, ever bothered to get to know him. Matthew only knew him because he was his therapist, and that was how Alfred knew him too.

Arthur respected Francis for that.

He loved Francis for that.

But that didn't matter. He'd let Francis down, and now there was no going back.

Francis would never forgive him. And he could never like him the way Arthur did.

It was then that Arthur Kirkland decided that unrequited love was the worst.

A/N: So…

Arthurs come to terms with his feelings. I'm sorry if this is a crappy excuse for romance and stuff, I've never really written it before.

As for why he flips out over such a menial thing… well, Arthur didn't want to let Francis down. He needed everything to be perfect, and when he forgot it… that made him break down.

But was the memory stick even forgotten anyway?

I'm gonna leave you with those thoughts for now.

Can we get to one hundred reviews? I THINK WE CAN!

See you next chapter! It should be in about a week!