Considering whether or not I should warn you... Read the end A/N. *Hands raised.*
Would having two chapters posted at the same time help? Okay, chapters 20 and 21 have been posted at the same time.
Francis shuts his alarm off when it goes off. It's exam week but he'd rather do anything but exams. Last year seems to be the same as this one. Dragging himself out of bed to revise and do exams before going back to bed and wasting the rest of the day.
His mother doesn't bother knocking as she brings him breakfast in bed, a hearty meal for his first exam. He knows she wants to bring up his and Mary's break up but she keeps tight-lipped, pressing a kiss on his forehead before telling him to hurry up because Bash will drive him and Leeza to university this morning and he's on his way. He doesn't even ask if Mary or the other girls are included in that list because they might have different timings to his exams.
"I'm here if you want to talk," Catherine says before leaving him to his peace.
When he shoves pieces of food down his throat repeatedly until nothing is left, he downs his orange juice and leaves for the bathroom, getting there just after Claude.
"Claude!" He snaps, knowing she'll take forever and he's not in the mood for that.
"First come, first serve," is her reply as he makes his way downstairs but Hercule's in the bath and Charles is in the separated shower.
He stomps back up the stairs but stops when he hears the front door open and sees Bash.
"Are you guys ready yet?" Bash asks.
"Nope," Francis replies before heading back up the stairs and shutting himself in his room, grabbing his clothes for the day.
He can shower later on as he heads into his mother's bedroom to brush his teeth in the en-suite with a new toothbrush from the packets his mother always seems to stock up on with six kids.
He spies his mother's hair gel and uses it as well, slathering some onto his palms before moulding his hair out of his face and behind his ears. Mary loves his long hair...
Closing his eyes, he shuns all thoughts of her - exams, exams, exams.
He grabs his dad's deodorant and uses it.
When he's ready, he tidies up his dishes and cleans the kitchen up after seeing what a mess his siblings have made before they shut themselves in the bathroom. Everyone's running late today and he doesn't know why. Probably because no one really wants to go to work or school or uni.
"Thank you," his mother praises him, kissing his cheek as she dumps her coffee mug into the dishwasher. "Last year's earnings came through... We've made some losses but we'll fix that."
Francis frowns. "Any concerns?"
"Just that we might not be able to reach your father's dream of having a restaurant in England within the next three years..." Catherine says sadly. "I was hoping next year was the year."
"Come here," Francis says, bringing his mother into his arms. "Dad won't mind. Whenever it happens, we'll all be there to celebrate in his honour."
Catherine smiles, cups his cheek and nods before going to grab her stuff for work. "Boys, Claude, hurry up!"
"Mum, tell Claude to get out of the bloody bathroom!" Leeza screams down the stairs.
"Claude Leona Valois-"
"I'm out!" Claude cries out, her voice clear as she steps out of the bathroom. "Fucking bitch..."
"Language! Both of you!" Catherine snaps before grabbing her keys. "Meet me in the damn car. For God's sake, Hercule, don't forget to drain the bath!"
"Yes, Mama!"
Francis chuckles to himself and grabs his bag and coat from his bedroom before waiting with Bash in the living room, the Sports News channel on TV. "So, how did the entry exam go?"
"Passed with flying colours," Bash says proudly. "And they were impressed to find out that I didn't just know only French and English but Spanish, Italian and Dutch too. Thank you to the relatives who moved there and forced us to speak in the local language whenever we visited."
Francis snorts before fist-bumping Bash's fist. "Well done, bro. Would tell you to tell Mum but she's a bit stressed this morning."
"I can tell," Bash says before they both wince at Catherine yelling for the kids to hurry up, so help her God.
When they finally leave and Leeza is hurrying to get ready and shove toast down her throat as she searches for her Converses, Bash leads Francis to his car.
"So, have you spoken to Mary since you ended things?"
"No," Francis says. "And the girls avoid here much to Mum's disappointment."
Bash clicks his tongue. "Kenna says she's not taking it well."
Francis almost rolls his eyes. She should be living it large, no longer confined by their very emotional gruelling relationship. He thinks she will be happier this way after the initial shock. He's broken up with girls before but those breakups were never this bad. He still loves her, perhaps he will never stop loving her but they're still young and she needs a chance to spread her wings a bit.
"Well, breakups aren't easy," Francis says simply before getting into the car as Leeza hurries down the steps.
"Sorry, sorry! Claude is a little-"
"Just get in the car, will you?" Bash cuts her off with a roll of his eyes as he gets into the driver's seat.
Leeza tuts and gets in, doing up her seatbelt. "Got a coffee date with Mary and Kenna later. Want me to pass anything on to them, boys?"
Francis glares at her. "Shut up, Elisabeth."
"Ooh, you full-named her," Bash chuckles. "And you can tell Kenna 'yes'."
"'Yes' for what?" Leeza asks him.
"None of your business."
...
"Good exam?" Mary asks, shifting the caramel latte at Kenna's way when the other girl takes a much-needed seat.
"It was alright, thanks," Kenna replies. "Yours?"
Mary sighs heavily. "It was alright until Louis cornered me after it," she says, running her fingers through her hair. "Francis told me to move on. I guess I should because I've not seen him since he dumped me."
"How about I call the girls and we go out for drinks?" Kenna suggests, biting her bottom lip.
Mary doesn't know. Francis did tell her to try all the things she never did as she was growing up and all the times she's drunk alcohol were in safe spaces such at the comfort of a dorm or their student house in the Valoises' backyard.
"Maybe not," Mary mutters.
"Come on, just a party. It's going to be my first one since our first year..." Kenna drawls, tiptoeing her fingers up Mary's arm.
Mary tuts and nods. "Okay, sure."
"Oh, great! We'll bring Leeza along, here she is now!"
Leeza holds a finger up to them, tells her friend something before ordering and collecting a green tea and taking a seat at their table. "Hey ladies. Kenna, Bash says 'yes', whatever that means. And Mary, you look like someone's killed your dog."
"We're going partying, bitch," Kenna tells her. "On Friday-"
"But exams-"
"But we're going," Kenna cuts her off with a grin. "Oh, he said 'yes'?"
Leeza turns to Mary in exasperation. "How do you keep up with her?!"
"Lord knows," Mary mumbles before downing her coffee and getting up. "I'm going to the library to revise. Want to join me?"
Kenna winces. "I promised someone I'd see them."
"Who?"
Leeza scoffs now, raising a brow at Mary. "Isn't it obvious? She's sleeping with Bash!"
"Uh, actually I'm not," Kenna snaps, her cheeks reddening. "Not since..." They fall silent and Leeza sends her an apologetic glance. "Anyway, I'm going to help your brother with his induction to police school. It's quite exciting, you all must be so proud of him."
"We are," Leeza gushes. "And Francis is really happy for him too. Anyway, I'll head to the library with you, let's go."
They walk Kenna to the bus station before heading back to campus and into the library building. It's ever so quiet, the students revising hard for their upcoming exams and it's really full, unfortunately. After a while, they find two free seats but it's two tables away from the other.
"We can schedule a timer for two hours and head home?" Leeza suggests.
Mary nods. "Yeah," she mutters before taking the far left one and studies her handwritten notes, playing music in her ears.
Every now and then, she highlights important stuff but soon her mind's straying to Francis. She misses him terribly and she's been a mess without him, nightmares plaguing her sleep because she's not comforted by the realisation of him being near enough to sneak up into his bed or for him to come down to hers.
Just before the two hours are up, Mary takes notice when someone sits beside her and it's not Leeza. With a sigh, she meets Louis' eyes and he smiles wryly.
"I'm sorry... I just had to apologise again. You've barely spoken to me and you don't answer my-"
"Francis and I ended things."
Louis' eyes widen and he gapes like a fish before lowering his gaze. "My fault?"
"Well, before you came along we were going strong," Mary snaps before sighing and running her fingers through her hair. "What do you want?"
"I really like you, Mary," Louis says quietly, just for her ears. "I find myself going crazy about you, thinking of you when I sleep and when I'm supposed to be focused on other shit... I just fell for you real hard and you get me." He takes one of her hands. "And I get you..."
Mary blinks back tears, sniffling before pulling her hand back to her frame. It's been two weeks since she and Francis broke up and if she is honest, she is still holding out for a miracle when he'll snap out of his haze and get her back but that is wishful thinking.
He's Francis. Blonde, blue-eyed, can have the pick of the litter if he wanted. He's seen how guys look at her, she's seen how girls look at him. Even gay guys and Francis is flattered about it all but his eyes were only on her until they weren't.
A few days back, Claude was showing her their childhood photos and she stopped across one of Francis and some blonde girl back in lycée - their equivalent of high school or secondary school and in year Première so about 16 or 17 years of age. He'd looked so innocent and sweet, baby-faced with no stubble or beard and the blonde girl beside him was no other than the dead Olivia.
Mary thinks about how she compared herself to Olivia. Olivia was more beautiful than her, luscious hair and stunning figure and eyes... Mary wouldn't have worn dresses for the rest of her life since her mother's death if not for Kenna bringing out the side of her she kept suppressed.
"Louis, I can't," she whispers.
"Look," Louis starts, digging into his pocket and retrieving a cross necklace. "It was my brother's... Take it, and when you give it back to me, I'll know you're ready."
He doesn't even give her time to dispute as he leaves the necklace on top of her phone and leaves just as quietly as he came. Tears slide down her cheeks and she puts the necklace into her bag along with the rest of her stuff.
"Ready?"
Mary nods, wiping her tears briskly. "Yeah, let's go Leeza."
...
The student party is at some rich kid's house. It's triple the size of the Valoises' home in a gated community and Mary has never seen anything quite like it before. She doesn't know who the host is but Kenna weaves her and the other three girls through the crowds in search of drinks.
"We'll do shots first," Kenna says before gently butting a few girls away from the drinks tables. She babbles to herself as she reads the labels of every bottle before grabbing five red cups and filling them with the nearest Tequila. "Bottoms up!"
Everyone but Mary downs their drinks and she warily glances into the cup. "Do I have to?"
"If you've dragged me out from revision to not join in, I'll kill you," Leeza says lightly. "Drink! Best way to forget about breakups although my boyfriend and I have been together forever."
"And your parents were cool with you dating some older guy?" Lola asks dubiously.
Leeza sighs. "Not my dad, he never got over it," she admits as Mary downs her drink. "But Maman was really happy because he's quite well off. Anyway, another shot!"
Kenna pours them each one more and they all down it before moving onto some chasers.
Mary already feels the alcohol take control. She's never been good at holding her drinks and she gets drunk easily, giggling and swaying with Lola as they dance to the loud, pumping music that vibrates in their bodies.
The girls dance and Mary groans when Kenna finds a girl who smokes some weed. The girl then shows the five her freshly baked hash brownies, explaining that she's one of the hosts of the party - Maddie Bourbon.
Mary freezes. "I-Is your brother Louis?"
"That old bore? Unfortunately," Maddie giggles loudly, sticking a brownie in each of their hands. "Enjoy...!"
Kenna swallows her in one gulp as Lola eats it in two bites. Greer eats half before gagging and shaking her head, chucking it in the bin and stating she hates chocolate stuff. Leeza worriedly eyes hers, she's Catholic, her mother will kill her so she returns hers. Mary is the last one to make a decision and she eats it hungrily, feeling her alcohol content crave food.
"I don't feel..." Lola's eyes widen. "Oh, shit..."
Mary sees all sorts of colours and she tries clutching at the tiger smoking the pipe, asking if Kenna sees it too. "It's so pretty... A glittery rainbow tiger." She starts giggling, everything slowed down as it seems the girls are taking at an incredibly slowed pace. "Talk... faster..." She's even slowed down. "Woah."
"Shit..." Kenna drawls. "I need to have a whole chicken."
"You're vegan, Kenna!" Leeza cries out.
"I thought chickens were vegan?"
Mary laughs, leaning onto Greer. "You're so gorgeous... Your hair... So blonde," she says, bringing a strand and folding it over her mouth. "I've got a blonde moustache now! 'Hello, I'm Mr Greer's Dad, how do you do?'"
Somehow that sets her, Kenna and Lola off as Lola gasps and points somewhere. "My boyfriend!"
"Oh! Leith's with him and-"
"Francis!" Leeza cuts Greer off, already heading towards her brother as Kenna disappears and Mary wonders what's going on.
Why's Francis here? It's Louis' house, she thinks, stuffing her hand into her leather coat pocket and feeling the necklace she stuffed in there without thinking when she got scared she was missing her highlighters in her bag.
Just as she goes to follow the girls heading the guys' way, Mary is blocked by Louis staring at her inquisitively.
"You're here. In my house."
"Louis," she breathes out, blinking hard so he doesn't know she's tripping but she gets the giggles again and places her hands on his cheek. "Do you know your eyes look like... something that is brown!"
Louis scoffs in disbelief, a faint smile growing on his lips. "My eyes are brown, you are correct," he replies before glaring at his sister. "Did you take something?"
"Just some cannabis brownies, she's fine," Maddie says dismissively as she serves other people.
"Okay, let's get you some air," Louis says, guiding her out to the garden.
Upon smelling the fresh air, Mary almost throws up but she keeps it down and heaves instead. When she feels a bit better with some water from Louis, she places the bottle onto the glass outdoor table.
"Look at you," she starts, looking into his eyes. "Saving my life once again."
"I don't want to be a nag but stay away from weed and my sister," Louis says. "The only reason she's still around at uni is that our parents pay for her to be there by donating to the programs whenever she causes trouble."
"Understood," Mary mutters, putting her hand into her pocket and feeling the necklace once again. She brings it out and studies it, Jesus on his cross. "It's beautiful."
Louis nods. "It is. We're Protestant Christians," he informs her. "Living in a sort-of Catholic country."
"Have you met the UK and the Republic of Ireland?" Mary replies lightly before giving him the necklace.
Louis gasps. "Mary?"
Tentatively, she places her hands on his cheeks and pecks his lips. Before she can draw away from him to register what her drug-induced mind is telling her body to do, he deepens the kiss and she pulls him even closer.
She doesn't even realise that Francis is watching the whole thing from inside.
Right, you hate me but you all know that I'm Frary endgame. So just trust me! Trust in the story and it will all turn out as we want. By the way, I throw up at Mondé situations and scenes (I'm gagging right now writing Mondé). Hell no. I didn't even accept that Adelaide and Sean were a couple at one point either. I couldn't, Frary and Tobelaide shipper here.