Trials and Tribulations
Chapter Ten ~ Broke Up Today
Antonio was gentle; that was the best way to describe the Spaniard. Having been born into a large family and made to socialise with his many relatives, most of which knew barely any English and demanded he spoke to them slowly and clearly otherwise refused to converse with him at all, meant he had gained excellent social skills. This was probably why he had noticed the slight sag of Francis' shoulders and the melancholy glaze in his eyes. He had pointed it out to Gilbert whom immediately dismissed it as their mutual friend 'not getting some.' After a few days rolling it over in his mind, Antonio finally managed to bring it up to the Frenchman. He attempted to take on a casual and almost uncaring approach but it was clear to everyone that he was concerned, Antonio had smiled and snaked his arm around his friend's shoulder in a joking manner.
"What's eating at you, Francis? That face you've been pulling for the last few days has been bugging me," his voice came out in an accusing sing-song fashion and his lips jerked up into an awkward smile. Francis cocked a brow before heaving a sigh and chuckling too. Nudging the other jokingly in the side, he smiled and rolled his eyes at the Spaniard.
"Women are just difficult, 'Tonio, there's no need to worry." Antonio paused for a moment, Jeanne had been demanding more and more of Francis' attention lately, as if she was paranoid about something, He couldn't blame her, it didn't take a genius to see that Francis was a whole lot better now that he and Arthur were speaking again and Gilbert had secretly remarked on how the two complimented each other so well and Antonio couldn't help but agree with him. He sympathised with her somewhat but it pained him to see one of his closest friends so stressed all the time. He opened his mouth to speak and attempt to comfort the silently suffering Francis when the other's phone went off, obnoxiously blaring out some foreign French song that Antonio couldn't understand. The blond glared down at it for a moment before answering with a sickly sweet voice that was obviously put on.
"Yes, mon cher?" he rolled his eyes after a while, a harsh buzz audibly screamed out from the phone's receiver and Antonio flinched at it's mechanical callousness, "Yes, yes okay. Please stop yelling, I'll be right over, okay? Je t'aime aussi."
Gilbert, whom for the past minute or two had been watching silently, let out an exasperated sigh and fell down on the sofa next to the other two before glaring at the phone with all the malice he could muster before blinking pleadingly up at Francis.
"C'mon Franny, you haven't hung out with us in ages. Just a little while longer?" Francis laughed lightly before standing up,
"Sorry 'Gilly' but I'm not sure I want to be castrated, I promise tomorrow I'm all yours, okay?"
"You said that yesterday," he whined before nudging the Spaniard next to him, "Tell him, Tonio!"
Antonio smiled warmly at the albino who was now pouting up at Francis before nodding and rolling his eyes, "If Francis needs to go, he needs to go. We'll just kidnap him earlier tomorrow and make sure he doesn't bring his phone, okay? Go quickly before she sharpens her pitchfork, okay?"
Francis sniggered before quickly leaving, ignoring the yells of Gilbert as he did so. Shuddering slightly, he bunched up underneath his coat and wound a scarf around his neck as the cold wind lashed out and bit at him. Unusually so, his legs seemed to buckle slightly at every step he took and he anxiously winced, an uneasy feeling hovered and settled over him as if he body was anticipating some sort of impact and warning him that he should turn back and run away. He sighed slightly and continued, Jeanne had sounded angrier than ever on the phone but he couldn't understand why, he wasn't sure he wanted to find out either.
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Arthur watched nervously as Angus stood at the door, suitcase in tow. The atmosphere of the house hadn't been the most inviting since his birthday but of course that was to be expected, they barely spoke now and his Mother's night time sobs had started to become more and more frequent. Angus blinked over at his younger brother sadly before giving a melancholy smile and outstretching his arms, Arthur's brow furrowed and he eyed them up uncertainly until Angus strode over and picked him up into a bone-crushing bear hug. Affection was rarely even thought of in the Kirkland household so when the stoniest and 'man's man' of them all had simply whisked him up and acted so out of character it came as more than just a shock. Angus started to laugh and placed him down,
"Crappiest birthday you'll be having in a long time," he said, his voice straining to seem unfazed by it all. Angus had seen his Mother go through the same thing three times over and it was hard for him to appear strong when he already predicted the worse but nevertheless he seemed determined to keep face for his younger brothers. Arthur blinked up at him in surprise, thankful when Gareth came from his room and cut the tension that had rested between the eldest and youngest Kirkland.
"You forgot your toothbrush," he murmured, pressing it into the redhead's hand as Eoghan came downstairs, his head bent and his thumbs twiddling together as though they were fighting.
"Where's Mum?" Angus asked looking up the stairs, Gareth's stoic expression broke and his brows knitted together and his lip began to tremble. Arthur noticed the flutter of his Welsh brother's eyelashes began to get more frequent and his chest rose slightly, Eoghan's head snapped up and he looked nervously between the two as if preparing for them to start fighting like his thumbs just were but instead Angus simply rolled his eyes and grabbed his suitcase before turning on his heel and going for the door.
"Typical," he murmured harshly. Without warning, Gareth reached out and grabbed the eldest's sleeve, stopping him in his tracks. Arthur stayed respectfully silent though watched both of them as they paused, Angus turned slowly to look at him. Gareth's face was resolutely neutral but the shining of his eyes betrayed his unbiased expression, they looked at each other for a moment before Angus sighed and patted his younger brother's head.
"You look after them all, sheepy," Gareth's lips quivered and formed a slight smile,
"You look after yourself, I'm not going to have enough time to send you as much food as I do now, okay?" Angus pouted before looking up at Eoghan who stood awkwardly, his brow furrowed and his breathing becoming heavier then at Arthur who stood unemotionally.
"If I find out that any of you give Mammy Gareth hell, I'll be down here kicking your ass before you can even think of apologising, okay?" Arthur sniggered and Eoghan's face quickly took to the expression of an earnest puppy dog that it usually was in. Angus opened the door, attempting for the second time to leave before being cut of by the soft patter of feet on the landing, his face fell as his Mother's figure appeared at the head of the stairs, they hadn't spoke or even attempted to see each other since Arthur's birthday and the tension was still thick between them. She blinked and a few tears fell, staining her pale cheeks with streaks.
"At least take care of yourself," he murmured, his voice had a bitter edge. She rushed down the stairs and she lunged at her eldest son wrapping her arms around his neck and crying into his toned chest. Slowly and unconsciously his hands went up to pat at her blonde waves of hair, her whole body racked with sobs as she murmured apologies. It seemed to be the longest goodbye the Kirkland family had to endure.
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"Mon cher, you can't ring me up screaming at me to come over quickly then just sit there is silence. What's wrong, Jeanne?"
She sat at her window with a placid expression on her face, it was obvious that she had been crying as her eyelashes were matted with tears and her eyeliner that had been applied with such precision was now slightly smudged at the corners of her eyes. Her hair was touselled as if she had been racking her hand through it and her hands were perched in her lap. Francis was stood just to the side of her and leant casually up against a wall, his first instinct was to rush over there and comfort her, hold her pretty face in his strong hands and kiss her rouged cheeks but instead he hung back, knowing that she from how she was poised she didn't not want him hanging on her. Although she was obviously sad, Francis didn't think he had ever seen her look so beautiful. Her hair was not purposefully styled and lay in natural soft and messy waves, her eyes shone with unshed tears that were on the brink of pouring out and her lips were pursed slightly. Jeanne blinked up at her boyfriend, her face still unreadable before looking outside the window again.
"I'm going to visit family in France," she murmured. He raised an eyebrow quizzically and crossed his arms, she was close to her family, and it would be good for her to go, he couldn't understand why she looked so sad about it.
"That's good, isn't it? I mean, you always talk about how much you miss them all over there, why are you crying?"
She looked up at him with a glare that could stop a blind man in his tracks, she radiated hurt and her eyes implored him to continue on stupidly. He responded with a look of confusion and stood up straight, he made his way over but was stopped by her saying vehemently,
"Because of you," she glowered, "I wasn't always like this you know. I was never insecure, never clingy or jealous, but then you came along and changed all that. How can I go to France knowing that you'll be flouncing around with other girls and boys, not giving your girlfriend on the other side of sea a second thought and having the time of your life playing a bachelor? How can I do that, Francis?"
He became defensive now but still walked over to her and took both of her hands in his own, he looked up into that fearless glower of hers and tried to convey his sincerity.
"Jeanne, I wouldn't do that. Why do you think of me like that, mon cher? Have I done something in the past to hurt you? You said you were perfectly fine with my sexuality, ma belle" She scoffed and pulled back her hands, tears started to fall down her cheek in single file and the clear beads sliding idilly down her skin complimented her porcelain complexion.
"Oh don't get me wrong, Francis, I'm fine with it. Perfectly fine, fine, fine. But when you go staring at that Kirkland boy all the time and then sneak off with him after dark when he texts, it starts to get a little worrying. And don't get me wrong, it's not just him either, you follow the albino and the Spanish one like a lost puppy and pine over them. Then don't even get me started on the girls you look at all the time…"
"Arthur was sad, mon cher."
He had attempted to reason but instead got cut off by the scathing tone of his beautiful Jeanne, "And I am sad, Francis. But you don't care anymore because you think I'm just being repetitive and unexciting and you'd much rather be single and run free with the rest of your bachelor friends. Well go ahead, I'm letting you go. Scram, be single and I'll go to France and when I get back we'll ignore each other like none of this ever happened, oui? Now just get out."
His eyes widened and he grabbed her chin so that they were both looking each other in the eye, his thumb went out and stroked away her tears and he brought their faces very close together.
"I do care," he said insistently. Her hand came down and met his cheek with a harsh slap, the noise reverberated and they both sat there in shock. Fresh tears sprung to her eyes and she began to sob and turned inconsolable.
"I hurt you," she cried, his hand went up to rub at his sore face, "I-I'm sorry. I hurt you... Just go, Francis! Just get out already!"
"It's okay, Jeanne," he murmured.
"No, no it's not. Get out. Leave me alone, we're over, okay? Over. Leave me alone."
((A/N: I noticed thanks to a lovely reviewer that I made a mistake with Arthur's girlfriend's description. I just wanted to apologise and promise that I'll try and proof read a bit more thoroughly from now on c: ))