"I love you!" Gilbert shouted as he tackled Francis at the door.

"Uh-" Francis said awkwardly, blinking rapidly and breaking free of Gilbert.

Unable to find Arthur, he had plotted for hours, wandering the streets alone. His feet must have led him back to his apartment. The sun was already setting, dying the sky with hues of red, orange and pink.

"Your boyfriend- Arthur- just came and gave us two hundred dollars! Told us it was for the dinner. Said that he had plenty of money- imagine! Then-"

"Arthur came here?" Francis interrupted.

Gilbert shot him an annoyed look, "As Americans say, duh. As I was saying-"

"Which direction was he going in?" Francis demanded.

"Said something about Central Park. Why?"

"Bye!" Francis shouted, turning away and running off, leaving Gilbert confused and annoyed.

Francis's heart beat frantically in his chest as he sped towards Central Park. He had no idea what he was going to say to Arthur, or whether this would succeed or fail. All he knew was that he had to try.

As he entered the park, he sped past children with mothers and fathers. Teenagers were walking while texting on their phones, and a dog was chasing a flying frisbee. Runners sped past, clearly much faster than Francis.

He dashed through the park like a madman, screaming Arthur's name at the top of his lungs. Francis was one hundred percent certain someone was going to call the cops.

"Excuse me, sir?" Someone said in a accented voice, grabbing his arm from behind.

Francis turned to see a young Asian man with spiky hair, glasses, and an apologetic smile. He had on a white button-up shirt. Behind him was an Asian girl with an irritated expression and crossed arms. Her long hair was in a ponytail that looked like Yao's, and she was wearing a green dress. The two looked about college age.

"Keep going on like that," The Asian girl snapped, "And somebody will call the police. Are you looking for your little brother or something?"

"Eh… no," Francis replied, gasping, "I'm looking for my… well… it's complicated. You see-"

"Not interested," The girl said flatly.

"Lien!" The boy protested.

The girl, Lien, sighed, "Aroon, this doesn't matter. We should help this man find his whatever rather than wasting time hearing about his relationship problems."

The boy, Aroon, nodded, "You're right."

Turning to Francis with a smile, he said, "So… what does this… eh… August... wait… no… is it Alistair?"

Lien frowned, "It's Arthur, isn't it?"

"Oui," Francis said, still trying to recover his breath.

"Okay… what does he look like?" Aroon asked.

"Caucasian," Francis replied, "Green eyes. Punk-style blond hair. Really, really thick eyebrows."

"Hmm…" Lien said, "Grumpy expression?"

"Probably."

"Well," Lien said, "I think I saw him near one of the smaller ponds. It's about 20 to 30 yards from here. The guy was reading on a park bench."

"Merci madame," Francis said, smiling gratefully.

"You're welcome," Lien said.

"Good luck!" Aroon added as Francis took off.

As Francis ran, he suddenly realized he had no idea what to say to Arthur. He was tempted to stop and rehearse a speech. But if he did, Arthur could leave. As a matter of fact, Arthur could already be gone.

And then, he saw him. Sitting on the park bench, in a fancy scarf and tweed jacket, reading a book, was Arthur. Francis heart jumped, and accidentally tripped and fell into in intestine (or somewhere like that). That must have been why Francis felt so weird in the stomach. Or was he sick? Butterflies, maybe?

Swallowing, he approached Arthur, his heart beating rapidly.

Standing in front of Arthur, who was still buried in his book, Francis summoned up his courage and weakly said,

"Bonjour."

Arthur looked up, his face transforming into one of horror.

"Arthur," Francis begged, hesitantly putting his hand on Arthur's shoulder, "Please. Let's… let's take this somewhere private."

Arthur, his eyes wide and breaths frantic, managed a barely audible, "Fine."

"Merci," Francis whispered, trying to figure out where they should go. Antonio hated Arthur, and the Wang's would freak out. Surely there was somewhere in the park…

"I-I know a place," Arthur stammered, "It's… in the park."

"Okay," Francis said, smiling a relieved smile, "Lead the way."

12/6/2016

And FrUK is back!

法国x英国 forever!

The Asian couple that helped Francis was Vietnam and Thailand! I started shipping them after I read one strip featuring them… ehehe…

Anyways, it's going to be Christmas in a little more than two weeks! Yay! 圣诞节快乐！