Devon: Shhh I made it, I haven't slept yet therefore it is not actually the 14th yet.

Warning: Maybe a little bit of angst? I dunno this is like more of a filler chapter than whatever last chapter I called a filler chapter because in that one our boys got dates to the wedding which was necessary unlike this one where we learn a little about Francis's past but that's the most productive thing that happens.

Disclaimer: Come on we've been together 20 chapters now you guys know better right

Rating: We're getting closer I promise

Chapter 20

France (Francis) x England (Arthur)/America (Alfred) x Japan (Kiku)/Spain (Antonio) x South Italy (Lovino)/ Prussia (Gilbert) x Hungary (Elizabeta)/Prussia (Gilbert) x Canada (Matthew)/ Germany (Ludwig) x North Italy (Feliciano)/Sweden (Berwald) x Finland (Tino)/(Suggested?) Austria (Roderich) x Hungary (Elizabeta)/Why did I think adding this every time was a good idea

It was nearing one in the afternoon and Arthur still had yet to see Francis. He was fairly certain-actually he was almost completely certain that the Frenchman was home as he couldn't fathom another reason for obnoxiously loud music to be coming from the back room of Francis's flat if Francis himself was not there. However the fact that the Frenchman had been in there all day worried Arthur a bit.

Arthur had woken up around seven o'clock that morning and Francis had already locked himself away in the backroom. Arthur made himself his usual breakfast of toast and tea, cleaned up, and left the flat with Alfred. They wound up at a near-by park where they walked for an hour or so and Alfred got to play fetch with some children for a few minutes. Arthur checked in on his flat and took down the address his boss left for their temporary office building. Arthur and Alfred arrived back at Francis's flat around ten o'clock and Francis was still hidden away. At first, Arthur had thought nothing of it but now, three hours later-he found himself growing concerned.

"I don't want to bother him," Arthur admitted to Alice. "But he's been in there a long time. Has he even eaten anything today?" Alice had the courtesy to stay in the kitchen long enough for Arthur to finish voicing his worries. Afterwards however, she quickly retreated to the bedroom for a nap. Arthur was the only human she had ever understood-and she was too old to try and learn Francis just to ease Arthur's nerves. Alfred was lying in the kitchen, happily chewing on a small toy Arthur had picked up for him-completely undisturbed by Arthur's pacing.

"Oh Françoise how I wished you could actually tell me if this was normal for Francis." Arthur muttered to the feline before he took a book into the living room and tried to ignore the loud music.

Around four o'clock, Arthur gave up trying to read and went to the kitchen once again. He would make dinner and then get Francis out of the room whether the Frenchman wanted to come or not. He hadn't come out all day and there was no way that kind of behavior was healthy. Arthur sighed, hanging his head. If someone had told Arthur in a week he would end up genuinely worrying about Francis, he never would have believed them.

"Now is not the time to wonder if you've been getting soft." Arthur told himself before he got to work. Mostly because he was afraid of the answer.

After taking a quick inventory of the ingredients in the kitchen, Arthur thought an improvised cawl might be a good choice for dinner-especially because it was still rather early in the day to eat. Arthur carefully cut up and prepared the different vegetables he needed, covered them and returned them to the fridge until he needed them again. Then he went to look for the appropriate type of pot, only to find nothing of the sort. Arthur couldn't believe it. There was no way someone like Francis, who was a chef for God's sake, wouldn't have such a simple thing. However, after looking through every cupboard in the kitchen-Arthur had to admit that there wasn't anything the proper size.

Disgruntled, and a bit embarrassed, Arthur made his way to the back room. The music was as loud as ever. Not totally sure Francis would even hear him, Arthur knocked on the door a few times. Surprisingly, after a few seconds, the music volume lowered and the door opened. Francis looked surprised to see Arthur. A stripe of green paint was on his cheek.

"Arthur what are you-" Suddenly Francis seemed to realize the answer to whatever his question was because his cheeks flushed a bit, as if he was embarrassed. "What time is it?"

"It is nearing four thirty." Arthur answered. "I was going to try and prepare cawl, granted with a few improvised ingredients, but I could not find the proper type of stock pot in your kitchen."

"I have a larger one in the hall closet." Francis answered immediately. He held up a finger. "One moment." Francis shut the door once again. Arthur waited, a bit confused, as the music was turned off and some things were moved around inside the room. When Francis came back to the door, he was holding a few paintbrushes and a cup, so covered in different paint splotches; Arthur wasn't quite sure what the original color was supposed to be. "Let me wash these off in the bathroom and then I can get that out for you."

"Oh Francis I'm completely capable of finding a pot you don't have to-" Arthur called after Francis, only to be cut off by a door shutting farther into the flat. Arthur sighed but followed after Francis. It was probably best that Francis helped him after all.

Francis met Arthur at the hall closet. Arthur grimaced when Francis opened the door. The closet was a mess of things haphazardly thrown in. Plastic bags full of unidentifiable things were scattered throughout the mess.

"Francis…"

"I haven't cleaned this out in a while…" Francis admitted, trying to brush off Arthur's look. "But it should not be hard to find the pot, do not worry." He promised.

Thirty minutes later, the two of them had made a huge mess of Francis's hallway and the elusive stock pot was nowhere to be found.

"Are you sure you have one?" Arthur asked, pushing aside a few plastic bags to sit against the wall. Francis sat in front of the closet and sighed.

"I am sure I do. I used it not too long ago. But I have no idea where it went." Suddenly his eyes brightened and Francis jumped to his feet, reaching deep into the closet. A book of some kind shifted from where it had been wedged as Francis pulled on something near the back of the closet and fell to the ground. With a flourish, Francis pulled out a shoe.

Catching a glimpse of the metallic bottom of the shoe that Francis must have thought was the pot, Arthur smirked.

"I had no idea you were a tap dancer, Francis."

Francis looked completely baffled. "I'm not. I have no idea where this came from."

Shaking his head at the Frenchman, Arthur picked up the fallen book and flipped it over. 'PHOTOS' was printed on the front.

"I never pegged you as such a pack rat, Francis." Arthur commented. Francis slumped to the ground next to him.

"I wish I had a defense, cher, I really do." Francis noticed the photo album as Arthur opened it. "Oh my."

The first picture was of Francis and his parents. Francis couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen years old but his parents hardly looked like they had changed at all from the time they took the picture to the last time he saw them. Arthur said nothing about the picture.

The first ten or so pages of the book were filled with pictures Francis had taken on the extensive amount of trips the family had taken due to his father's business. Exotic buildings and sights were scattered in the photographs.

The next few pages boasted a few friends Francis had grown up with in France that he hadn't spoken to in years and another with a younger Francis and Matthew smiling with each other. Arthur smiled at those pictures.

Francis inhaled sharply when Arthur turned the page. The first picture depicted a young girl with short blonde curls and bright eyes smiling into the camera. The page was filled with similar shots, some candid and some that the girl was oblivious to being the subject of.

The final picture was of Francis and the girl dancing in some type of stone plaza against a rosy sunset.

"She is beautiful." Arthur commented quietly. "Who is she?"

Francis had a faraway look in his eyes as he responded. "My fiancée."

A horrible feeling came over Arthur. He had to have heard him wrong.

"Or I suppose I should say she was."

Is it wrong to feel relieved? Arthur wondered to himself.

"What happened?"

Francis ran a hand over his face. "She was very young and very sick." He whispered. "Very sick for a very long time. There was not much anyone could do for her." Francis dropped his hands into his lap and his head onto Arthur's shoulder. "The doctors were all astonished she lived as long as she did"

Arthur swallowed thickly. "And how long was that?"

"Nineteen years."

"I'm so sorry, Francis." Arthur said quietly. "What was her name?"

"Jeanne." Francis sighed. "She was four years younger than I. And I loved her very much. I asked her to marry me the night before she died. She said yes. In the morning she was gone."

Arthur looked away. He could not imagine how Francis must feel.

The two sat in silence, mulling over their own thoughts for a few minutes. Something inside the closet shifted and fell from an upper shelf, landing then on a box discarded on the floor. Arthur looked over at the closet door when he noticed something making an odd noise.

"Francis, is that box-"

Francis reached out to kick the box, stopping it from vibrating any longer.

"Never mind that." Francis said quickly, getting to his feet. "I for one have not eaten all day so I will change into something a little cleaner and then we can go out tonight."

"That's not necessary, Francis." Arthur replied, rising from the floor as well.

Francis looked down at his colorful paint smock. "I am really not comfortable going out in public wearing this." He commented. Arthur glared at him.

"You know as well as I do that that is not what I meant."

Grinning, Francis leaned over to kiss Arthur's cheek. "I know, mon ami, but I just can't help myself. You are much too fun to tease." Francis ran his hand down Arthur's arm to squeeze Arthur's free hand. His other hand still held the photo album. "I won't be long."

Once Francis had gone into his bedroom to change, Arthur was left alone with the mess they had made of the closet's contents. Knowing Francis, Arthur figured he had at least twenty minutes to clean up the mess.

Francis sighed heavily as he pulled his paint smock over his head. He had forgotten about the photo album in his closet. Going down memory lane to his life in France with Arthur riding passenger was certainly not how Francis had intended on finishing this evening. Not when it had been off to such a great start with a bout of inspiration that woke him up at nearly six o'clock in the morning and had kept him going all day. He just prayed a nice dinner date with Arthur could mend the rift in his day.

It had been six years since Jeanne had passed away and Francis was positive that he had moved on from the young woman. He still loved her of course-long before Francis was romantically involved with Jeanne he had loved her as a good friend-and you cannot simply stop loving someone you cared for, for so long. But he had moved on.

Remember how terribly prematurely Jeanne was taken from the world however, still hurt more than he would like to admit.

"Arthur," Francis said in surprise, catching the Englishman's attention. "You didn't have to do this."

While Francis had been getting dressed, Arthur had cleaned up nearly everything they had torn from the closet-and organized most of what he had returned for that matter. Arthur stood up and brushed off some imaginary dust from his trousers.

"Well I was the one who wanted to look for the pot so really it was no trouble. Besides, it really did need something."

Francis laughed, offering Arthur his arm. "Well I will not argue with that. Now come along, I'm starving."

Rolling his eyes, Arthur threaded his arm through Francis's and allowed himself to be led to the door. "Do you have an idea of where you would like to go?"

Francis thought for a moment. "Do you mind a bit of a drive?"

Francis took Arthur to a city about half an hour away but he did not stop in the bustling downtown. Farther on, where older brick buildings still stood tall and old fashioned cast iron lamp posts marked each street corner, a rive cut through the city. A small river-front restaurant with outside seating allowing a wonderful view of the river and suspension bridge is where Francis finally stopped the car.

"It might not look like much on the outside," Francis admitted "But the food is exquisite."

Arthur allowed his hand to be taken and he stepped closer to the blond Frenchman. "I'm learning to trust your judgment when it comes to matters of the stomach."

"What about other matters?" Francis pushed gently.

"I haven't decided yet."

Dinner, which was as delicious as predicted, ended around six o'clock. Arthur and Francis then wandered in and out of some nearby antique shops. When they did not find anything that caught their eye after three tries, Francis directed them back towards the restaurant.

"An ice cream shop?" Arthur asked incredulously when Francis explained why he wanted to go back.

"It's not just an ice cream shop." Francis replied, tugging the stubborn Englishman along. "It's homemade ice cream first of all. And there are also nuts and homemade candies and a dozen other things."

Begrudgingly Arthur allowed himself to be pulled inside the small shop where the two of them wasted half an hour trying different samples of ice creams, candies, jams, jellies, and other assorted things. Until they were told that they had to buy something or leave. Arthur bought a raspberry jam because he felt bad.

"Will you tell me why you wanted to come out here of all places now?" Arthur asked once he and Francis stopped by the car to drop of his purchase. "The restaurant was wonderful, the antique shops are nice, the ice cream shop was much nicer than I thought it would be but you're still insisting there's something else to do and I frankly can't imagine what it is."

Francis walked behind Arthur and covered his eyes with his hands.

"Francis," Arthur warned.

"Trust me." Francis whispered in reply.

Francis walked Arthur forward. Eventually they made their way onto a large, wide, wooden deck looking out over the water. They were next door to the restaurant where they ate.

"A few more minutes." Francis whispered to Arthur, reassuring the Englishman that he would remove his hands soon.

Eventually a quiet tune floated up to where Francis and Arthur were standing and Francis dropped his hands away from Arthur's face. Everything was dyed a soft warm color from the setting sun. Arthur was facing the balcony of the restaurant where a live band was starting. "Francis," Arthur started, turning around. Francis was holding out a hand to him.

"May I have this dance?"

Devon: Ooh parallels anyone?

...Oh God that sounds terrible alright I'm swearing right now before anyone gets the wrong idea from that statement-I'm not killing anyone. This is not that kind of fanfiction.

Replies to the reviewers:

First of all, thank you all for reviewing:

Now then.

otakuphiar - Thank you I'm glad! :)

Sora Resi - Haha oh good. :P

sophiakuso - How cool. How was your vacation? Go anywhere cool? I've been spending my summer taking care of children so no, not very interesting. Though I did get a break to go to a beach party on the weekend which was nice.

Adriana Emerald - That's good. I'm glad it's working out and that you're enjoying it so far. You look like you're twelve too? It is so nice to meet someone else who has that problem. I usually have to be pretty angry for anyone to be scared of me/take me seriously :P Ah I'm sorry I can't update every day for you. I would really love to, I just don't have the free time to. I really shouldn't be doing anything but working on a huge project I put off too long but I couldn't not update this-not when we're so close. I'm sure your Francis will come along soon! Oh no. I'm so sorry dear. I hope things get cleared up between the two of you. I can only imagine the stress that could put on a circle of friends-not to mention you alone. Thank you. It's nice to hear that occasionally. Unfortunately I haven't been up to much other than taking care of three little girls and trying not to be too terribly mean to my best friend's new (in my opinion) poorly chosen boyfriend.

Katoryu - I'm so glad! I completely understand where you're coming from, which is why I am so unbelievably grateful to those who have stuck with me this whole time. It means a lot! To be honest, when I started this fic, I don't think I intended to even get to nineteen chapters-let alone go nineteen chapters without any real smut or anything but I do know where it is going to come in now and I have a vague idea of where this will end and roughly how many more chapters we have to go. Oh good! Ah yes, Feli's blindness. I never explicitly said that he was blind before-no, though I did try to hint heavily at it, this is the first time I really confirmed it. And yes, Feliciano is actually blind in the story.

slashingfruit101 - Oh good, thank you :) Haha, I'm glad Alfred-puppy seems to be a hit so far and yes, I can't forget the kitties. Ah I'm so glad the little moments I added in worked out. I actually really liked writing them!

Akott the Perfectionist - Oh no I'm sorry. I actually do really want to write a story to work out (er...explain-I know what's going down) the whole Prussia-Canada-Hungary deal but knowing my own limits-I do have to wait until Every Day is finished to start that if I ever want to get any real writing done. Thank you so much, really it is super nice to hear this! And I know your pain which makes your review that much more meaningful. Thank you. And I certainly hope writer's block doesn't come for me this late in the game!

OodleNoodle - Ah yay! Haha please do and I will try to fit them in where I can. I'm glad you liked them! (I'm pretty pumped for the wedding myself but Ameripan is my OTP of Hetalia so that might have something to do with it...) Thank you so much :)

luckynumberblack - Thank you. I'm glad you liked it! Thank you again! :)