Author's Note: I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to write. Distractions, distractions. Anyway, you already know that you can ask me questions about anything, and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks to all of you who comment, favorite, and follow my story. You make me want to keep writing. :3

Chapter Song: "Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru

It was December 24th, Christmas Eve. Many individuals were out shopping for last minute gifts for their family and friends, or hoping that they were going to make enough money in the next few weeks to restore the hole in their budgets from buying so much for Christmas. However, Arthur and Francis were not following suit with everyone else.

Arthur had been healing alright after his ordeal at the Underbog, but Francis was still worried. He managed to talk the Brit into signing up for a check-up at the dermatologist, and his appointment was today. Arthur had protested that he didn't need Francis to come with him, but the Frenchman was not going to leave his side, not after what happened the last time they were separated.

Arthur pushed open the door, and a small bell rang overhead. Following his boyfriend inside, Francis grimaced to himself at the lack of decor in the dermatologist office. Arthur headed up to the counter and confirmed his appointment before the lady behind the desk handed him a form for him to fill out.

Sitting down with a pen, he filled out the paper and looked over the long list of ailments and whatnot that a patient could have. Francis noticed how reluctant Arthur looked while he checked "yes" for several of the boxes, but you couldn't exactly lie to a doctor. It wasn't in your best interest to do so. Eventually, the paper was filled with ink and he gave the clipboard back to the woman behind the desk. She gave him a smile, "Thanks. Lili will be with you in a minute."

The two sat back down on one of the waiting sofas and made small talk. It wasn't all that easy to talk so openly, especially whenever some of the people sitting in the dermatologist looked pretty somber and none of them were speaking.

Eventually, a woman in the back had called his name and both Arthur and Francis headed back into the office to the appointed room, and that Lili was already in there waiting for them. Francis gave Arthur a reassuring pat on the back, and his British boyfriend shot him a confused look.

"You looked a little nervous is all..."

"The burn's probably not that bad, it's all the rest of the stuff I had to put on that sheet. They asked me when was the last time I had sex! That's unnerving!"

Francis shushed him, "I'm sure they won't mention it. I'd not like to make a scene in a doctor's office."

Arthur sighed and nodded, pulling the door open and stepping inside. There was a hasty sentence of German that reached his ears, and the two peered into see a small doctor who was standing in the corner of the room on a cell phone. Her short blonde hair was chopped to her chin, and there was a small purple ribbon in her hair.

"Warum? Du bist nie zu Hause!" she was cut off, and Arthur could hear someone on the other end speaking back to her in German. "Ja. Ja, aber-! Ja...ich weiß. Ich werde. Ich leibe dich, bruder. Tschüs."

She hung up the phone and Arthur couldn't help but ask, "Haben Sie ein Problem, vermissen?" Ludwig had taught him some German whenever they were younger, and he still retained some phrases, not that asking if one had a problem was very hard to remember.

She turned, somewhat frightened by Arthur's voice and blushed at seeing the two men by the door. She hadn't even heard them come in! She calmed her beating heart and twirled a finger in her short hair, "Oh, nein...no, I'm fine." She then asked, "You're Arthur Kirkland, correct?" He nodded and took a seat on the examination table. Looking over at Francis, she spoke, "Friend of his?"

Francis chuckled, "Something like that."

Arthur laughed back, and the lady murmured, "It's none of my business, sorry for asking." She then said, "I'm Lili, pleasure to meet you." Lili picked up the folder that held Arthur's record information, and asked, "So, what brings you here today?"

Arthur scratched behind his ear and said, "Well..."

Francis interjected, as he could tell that Arthur wasn't sure how to put the situation into words, "It's some scars on his stomach."

Lili glanced between Francis and Arthur and finally spoke, "Alright. You wish to check the condition of these scars?" Arthur and Francis both nodded, and she wrote the situation down on a form. "Okay, can I see the scars?"

Arthur, without nodding or replying, pulled his shirt over his head and abandoned it behind him, revealing his chest to Lili. She said immediately, "Already, it looks the scars were both from something sharp and a heat source." Looking at the scars, she realized that they formed letters.

Without thinking, she read out the word on Arthur's stomach, "...Koehler..." Looking up at Arthur, she asked, "What is...?"

Arthur and Francis chorused together, "Please don't ask."

Lili nodded, "Sorry, it wasn't my place." She proceeded to examine Arthur's chest, and after 15 minutes of examining, thinking, and writing, she allowed Arthur to put his shirt back on, and smiled, "The scars aren't infected or anything, it'll be a while before they disappear, and they may still be white afterwards. That's all I can tell you, you just need time."

Francis gave her a smile, "Thank you very much, Miss Lili."

Arthur nodded, "Danke."

Lili giggled, replying in her language, "Bitteschön."

Arthur slid off the examination table, and said to her, "So, are you sure you didn't have a problem whenever we first came in?"

Lili opened her mouth to say "no", but she sighed and said, "It's my older brother. He's out late every night, and sometimes he comes home looking so disheveled - and that's only when he comes home. Most of the time, he'll only call to tell me that he won't be home until tomorrow." Her cheeks flushed up and her voice sounded strained, "I know he thinks I'm just being a pest and that I have no business in keeping tabs on him constantly, but...he's my brother! I only want to make sure that Vash is okay!"

Arthur's eyes widened. She was related to Vash? No wonder. Arthur never told Alleric that he was a whore, not that his red-headed older brother cared about him or anything. But, if he had cared, Arthur wouldn't be able to bring that kind of news to the ears of someone so close to them.

Lili looked like she was was on the verge of tears, and she protested, "If there's something going on, you should tell someone, right? Why won't he tell me if he's okay?" Arthur, not sure of what else he could do, opened his arms slightly to the give the invitation of a hug. Lili wrapped her arms around him, and he stroked her back to comfort her. Looking up at Francis, the Frenchman gave him a small smile of approval.

Arthur said, "You should talk to him, ask him to sit down and have a conversation with you for once. That way you can make sure that he's alright."

Lili nodded and removed herself from his hold, and she sniffed, "Danke." She giggled, trying to wipe away the tears threatening to form in her green eyes, "I'm guessing you never assumed that this would happen during your appointment?"

Arthur smiled, "It's alright. Someone has to be there to listen." He stole a glance towards Francis, who gave a slight nod of the head.

Arthur turned to leave with Francis, and said to Lili, "Good luck."

Lili gave them a little wave, "Thank you, have a great day, and a Merry Christmas."

Closing the door behind them, the two walked briskly towards the check-out desk, and Francis whispered to Arthur, "You looked surprised when she said her brother's name. Did you know him?"

Arthur nodded, "He was a whore that I worked with."

Francis protested, "But if you know him, shouldn't you have told her? She's probably worried sick about her brother!"

Arthur shook his head, "It wasn't my place to tell. If Vash wants to come clean, then he needs to tell her. Lili wouldn't be as happy if she found out from a stranger that her older brother's been a whore for who knows how long."

Francis shrugged, "I suppose you have a point." They reached the desk and Arthur gave them the information they needed and the two were walking out the door. Stretching his arms over his head, Francis spoke, "I can't wait to get back home. I still need to wrap up the present I bought."

It was tradition within their circle of friends to assign "Secret Santas". It was tempting to tell their roommates whom they were buying their present for, but that was the fun of finding out whenever everybody else gave out presents.

Arthur grinned, "You should have given the present to me and I could have wrapped it for you. You clearly lack the patience to do it yourself."

Francis protested, "Non! You're waiting to see what it is whenever I give it to person I chose, just like everyone else."

Arthur sighed, "Fine. Fine. Just hurry up and wrap it before I get curious."

The two headed home and finished their preparations for tomorrow. Christmas was going to be quite a bit different this year, with Arthur as the new edition.

Arthur was fighting against his wish to fall asleep against Francis, as the Frenchman had warned him what Gilbert would do to wake him back up. He'd rather listen to the conversation between the others than get a stupid yellow bird cheeping in his ear and pecking at him. Francis did say that Gilbird was ruthless.

So, there he was, leaning against Francis's shoulder, while seated in a circle on the floor near the Christmas tree. It hadn't just been the Trio and their partners, Ludwig and Feliciano came, and Charlotte came with her boyfriend Roberto, who was a cousin of Feliciano and Lovino's.

The presents had all been dealt out, and now the lot of them were lounging around the warm fireplace and talking. It turns out that Francis had been his Secret Santa, and now Arthur had a much-needed cell phone. Arthur was the Secret Santa for Lovino, and all he could have thought to give him was a gift card to an Italian restaurant. The look of happiness that the normally-angry Italian gave him would be forever ingrained in his head, and Antonio's - since he snapped a photo of his facial expression before Lovino started yelling at his boyfriend. It was entertaining and fun, but Arthur's preference still was laying on Francis and ignoring the lot of them. He was looking forward to the next holiday, as his love had promised that they could just spend it alone; as Arthur was growing tired of having to constantly hang out with Antonio and Gilbert. Was there anything wrong with wanting some alone time?

Arthur felt warm fingers running through his hair, and he leaned into the touch, like a puppy that was desperate for attention. He heard Francis chuckle softly, "Were you waiting for me to give you my attention?"

Arthur whispered, "I'm bored here, Francis. Can't we go home?" He sounded like a child who was forced to be in a room with adults that didn't want to talk to him, and there were no other children to play with.

Francis frowned, "But it's Christmas, it's against the whole spirit of things if we were to simply leave after opening gifts. Adults stay a while and talk to each other about things."

"But we see most of these people every other day."

"Every few days Arthur..."

"Whatever. Either way, I'm sure you know the business of most of them, and Roberto's been doing a lot of the talking. We know the gossip, can't we go now?"

Francis sighed, "Artie..."

Arthur groaned and sat back against him, not willing to accept bitter defeat. Francis whispered in his ear, "If you had allowed me to talk for a couple more seconds, I was going to say that we could go in a few minutes." Arthur perked up, and Francis laughed, "You're so difficult."

Suddenly, he looked out to the group and said, "Me and Arthur are going to go home."

Gilbert protested from his seat in between Ludwig and Matthew, "What?! Running out on us early again?"

Matthew shushed, "Gil, don't be rude." He looked up to the now-standing Francis and Arthur and smiled, "Thanks for coming, you two."

The duo both chorused, "You're welcome."

Gilbert grinned, "But since the Christmas party was here, you guys gotta host the New Year's party, okay?"

Francis replied, "Ah, actually...me and Arthur are going to spend New Year's alone..."

There were protests from Feliciano, Gilbert, Antonio, and Roberto; but, Francis cut them off, "We'll host Easter or something!"

Gilbert pouted, "Fine, but we're not letting you slide the next time!"

Francis called as he was walking, "Right, right. See you all later!" And he closed the front door once he stepped through it with Arthur.

Arthur rolled his eyes, "How many times has he told us that?"

Francis spoke, "It would be fewer if you didn't always ask me to take you home."

"Is it wrong wanting to spend time with you?"

"No, of course not."

"But it's wrong wanting to spend alone time with you?"

"It's wrong by Gilbert's standards, I guess."

"Wouldn't he want to spend time with Matthew alone more?"

"They've been together for a lot longer than we have, though. It's different for them. And besides, Gilbert probably has sex with Matthew every single night."

"Charming."

"It's probably true though, knowing Gil."

"I can't disagree."

"Why did you want some extra alone time?"

"It'll be a secret until we get back home."

"Aww."

Francis locked the door to the apartment, and tossed the keys onto the counter. He looked over at Arthur, whom was slouching against the wall. He repeated, "So, why did you want some extra alone time?"

Arthur gave him a smirk, and strode forward. He leaned up, and kissed Francis passionately on the lips, and placed his hands on his shoulders to help him gain some height to accomplish the task. Francis hummed at the feel of it, and melted into the kiss, prodding his tongue at Arthur's lips. Arthur gave in and opened his mouth to Francis, his fingers deftly undoing the buttons of his coat and dropping the winter garment onto the floor.

Francis understood where this was going, and although he was planning on screwing Arthur during New Years, Christmas wasn't a bad substitute. He shed most of his and Arthur's clothing, before the two disconnected from a kiss and looked up at each other.

Arthur spoke softly, "Bedroom."

Francis nodded, spoke an "oui", and the two headed off into the bedroom before resuming their kiss. The Frenchman pushed his British lover onto the bed, and crawled on top of him. Running his fingers over Arthur's skin was making his smaller love tremble, and it turned his cheeks a rosy color. Merde, he was just too damn cute. He pulled off his own pants and boxers, then removed Arthur's. He grinned at how aroused Arthur looked, and the man in particular hissed, "If you give me another hand job again, I'll fucking kill you."

"Oh why would I do such a thing, mon amour?" Francis chimed, while pumping Arthur's cock slowly with his hand, savoring the moans and whimpers that his love was gifting him with. This was far better than any Christmas present one could ever receive. He brushed his tongue over Arthur's nipples, turning them hard and red. Arthur wailed softly, and grasped onto fistfuls of Francis's locks; urging him to hurry up with the foreplay. Foreplay could be savored whenever they were sitting on a sofa. They were lying on their damn bed and Arthur was horny. Francis seemed to get the message before Arthur could pull out all of his hair, and he reached over to their bedside table to dig around in the drawer for a bottle of lube. Coating his finger with plenty of the substance, lifts up Arthur's hips to trace one of his fingers at Arthur's entrance.

Pushing one of his digits inside of him, Arthur hissed at the feeling. It had certainly been awhile before fingers had entered him and not just another man's dick. But, eventually, the slow thrusting of fingers was causing the Brit to moan and silently beg for more than just fingers. He wailed, "Francis...hurry..."

Francis gave a small nod, and removed his fingers. He spread the lube over himself and lined himself up at Arthur's entrance. Pushing it without as much as a warning, Arthur cried out from the feeling, and Francis was worried about whether or not it was a cry of pleasure or pain. But, he sheathed himself all the way inside of his lover before he did anything else. Arthur grasped onto Francis's shoulders and called softly, "Move..." Following the order, Francis began moving himself out of Arthur before slamming himself back inside. Arthur's moans that dripped with lust soothed his fear of hurting his lover on their first time. So with his worries set aside, Francis began picking up the pace, pushing himself deep inside the Englishman and abusing his prostate until Arthur's cheeks had turned dark red from all the noise he was making. Francis reached down and started pumping his lover's cock quickly and in time with his thrusts, causing Arthur to start raising the volume of his cries.

"Fran...Francis! I'm gonna...!"

"I know...together..."

With the last few strokes, Arthur came undone and screamed out his love's name, shooting his seed across their stomachs and clenching his walls so that Francis would follow suit.

Breathing heavily and lying together on their bed, Arthur and Francis remained silent until the latter spoke, "So, did I live up to your expectations?"

Arthur laughed, "No...you were better."

Francis chuckled back, "I'm honored." Giving him a rough kiss, he looked down at Arthur and said, "I don't think I've ever had such a good Christmas."

Arthur smiled, "Never been given the gift of a warm body, have you?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Then it'll be easy getting a birthday present for you."

"I certainly have something to look forward to then."

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