8 Years Earlier

Arthur stood by the entrance gate, looking out on the sea of adolescent faces that made their way out of the building. The hordes of girls strolling with arms linked, giggling and shrieking, the older kids, their shirts scribbled over with brightly coloured messages of good luck, the younger years running between them all in their eagerness to be free for the summer. All but the two he waited for. Sighing irritably, he paced a few steps side to side as he chewed at the inside of his lip, keeping his gaze locked on the exit for any sign of his brothers.

The sun directly above beat down with the expected irony of summer term time. He knew the moment that vacation started it would be thunderstorms and cloud from whoever was up there just trying to spite them. It was always the way. But it seemed at least they were in for a pleasant evening, the thought of it making Arthur smile a little, the thought of what he was going to do that evening, and who with, making him smile a lot.

Leaning his folded arms over the low gate that was their regular meeting point, the full heat of the afternoon on his back, he continued to watch the now dwindling stream of students. Trust Alfred to be the last one out when he didn't have the time to hang around. Eyes rolling, he pulled at the collar of his shirt and undid the top button as the last few stragglers trickled through, leaving him alone.

With a huff of impatience, he let his head drop onto his forearms, relieving his eyes from the suns glare momentarily. From a distance, the echoing of voices reverberated through the streets, the laughing and squabbling of his fellow classmates. He was glad to be rid of them for a while. The last few weeks of term had been particularly gruelling, what with exams and papers and the heat. Turning his head to look out over the field he could see how the tarmac glistened and wobbled like a mirage, the whole world seemed to hold that dusty July filter.

"Hey, Artie! Sorry about that!"

Raising his head at the sound of Alfred's voice, Arthur greeted his siblings with a scowl.

"What the hell took you," he remonstrated as the twins came around the gate.

"I just wanted to say goodbye to a couple of teachers," Alfred defended, adjusting his tattered backpack on his shoulder.

"You mean all of them," Matthew corrected quite peevishly, having trailed around the whole school after him.

"Fine, whatever," Arthur dismissed, quickly getting to the point. "Look, can you two get home alright on your own?"

The journey from their home to school wasn't a long one, a short walk or even shorter bus ride, but the boys had never walked it unescorted before. While Arthur was sure they could manage just fine, he was under strict orders from their mother.

"We're not little kids, Arthur. Of course we can," Alfred scoffed.

"You're not coming with us?" Matthew's brow furrowed behind his oversized glasses as he looked quizzically at his older brother.

Looking down into the younger boy's face, his cheeks pinkened from the heat, Arthur felt a slight tug in his throat at knowing he would have to lie to him.

"No, I'm just going to the library for a little while," he gave his premeditated excuse, "tell mum I'll be home by five." He looked to each of his brothers in turn, Alfred forever unconcerned, Matthew frowning slightly. "Can you do that for me?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," Alfred didn't pause to think about his see-through alibi, but Matthew seemed hesitant.

"Alright," the younger of the two agreed at last.

"Thanks," Arthur breathed a quiet sigh of relief, "Go on, she's probably wondering where we are. But be careful, okay."

"Sure, whatever," Alfred called over his shoulder as the two turned away.

Arthur stood watching them until they had disappeared around the corner at the end of the street, making sure they wouldn't catch him turning and walking in the opposite direction, away from the school. Along the path that ran adjacent to the sports field, then around the corner into the alleyway just behind it, his steps becoming increasingly hurried, as was the beating of his pulse. Through the cramped archway of foliage that caused the light to fall dappled and cool upon his shoulders to the little dip in the path where a figure was waiting for him.

"You took your time," Francis commented when he caught sight of him. He didn't move from where he leant casually against the chain link fence, a stream of light illuminating his soft face. There was a lilt to his tone that betrayed the smile he tried to keep from his mouth.

Arthur showed no such restraint. "Sorry, I had to wait for my brothers," he smiled as he closed the space between them, and they kissed.

The feel of lips against his own was something that Arthur had yet to get used to. The touch, the rush, the cool tingles followed by the burning heat. It still felt as it had done the first time, the intensity of it refusing to fade.

It hadn't been anything like he imagined it would be, not that he had spent much time thinking about it. He had never been one to chase after schoolyard crushes or romantically obsess. He had always just assumed that one day a relationship would happen to him and that would be that. And then it had, and his heart hadn't stopped racing since.

"Park?" Arthur suggested their usual rendezvous as they parted, and the two of them began sauntering back down the alley where Arthur had just come from.

Under the cover of the hedgerows that separated them from the main road, their hands found company in one another and twined together comfortably, swinging as they walked. However, turning onto the pavement, out from the speckled shade of the alley, they fell apart. Arthur stuffed his into his pockets and Francis' occupied themselves by tying back his hair into a short ponytail as he tried to relieve his neck from the heat.

They walked quietly for the most part, having spent a majority of the school day together and so having nothing in particular to share, but chatted on and off quite easily as seemed to come so naturally to them. The stifling oppression of the midsummer air made moving a chore and by the time they had reached the park some streets away, both were lagging. Yet somehow, compelled by habit, they rallied enough to make it to the top of the gently sloping hill on which they had founded their designated spot.

Collapsing under the shade of a cluster of birch trees, Francis stretched his legs out before him and leant back on his hands, his head dropping back as he made a sound of exhaustion.

"Dieu merci, it is over at last," he groaned, "I could not have survived one more day."

Breathing a laugh as he looked down upon the others lithe form, stretched out over the grass like a sleeping cat, Arthur sat himself beside him and rolled his shirt sleeves up over his shoulders. They were so white they practically reflected the sunlight.

"I was beginning to wonder if we were trapped in some sort of time loop," Arthur seconded as he drew up his knees to his chest, resting his chin on top of them.

A grunt of agreement came from his side as Francis laid his bag under his head as a pillow and lowered himself down onto it. Arthur glanced back at him, watching him. Eyes closed, chest rising and falling evenly, a soft ray of light spilling over his lips.

Biting his lower lip to stifle a smile, Arthur turned away, casting his gaze to the singular cloud which struggled its way westward. The park looked out over the town, though it wasn't a particularly impressive view. Grey, blocky buildings, the reflections of cars and rows upon rows of houses, all smothered in the mucky, rippling heat. It smelled of a storm. Of gasoline and dried grass and sparks in the air. He expelled a breath and felt them prickling over his lips.

"Gilbert wants us there before it gets dark," Francis spoke after a while, propping himself up on his elbows and rolling the cramp from his neck.

Arthur glanced round at him. "Alright," he hummed and went back to splitting blades of grass, "I'm going home first, told my mum I'd be back by five."

"Oh, oui," Francis nodded, looking at the other's hunched back. "Should I come with you?"

Hands pausing their action, Arthur's mouth hung slightly ajar with no response ready.

"I…" he started and stopped. "You don't have to."

Watching the tensed frame before him, Francis raised an eyebrow. "I do not have to?" he questioned rhetorically.

Rolling his bottom lip between his teeth, Arthur knew his excuses weren't working. "I mean, you don't have to do that. I'll meet you there later."

When he received no reply, he twisted his body to look back at the incredulous expression of the other. Pale brows held aloft; Francis waited for the real answer.

"I'm sorry, Francis," Arthur crumbled immediately, strain tugging at his forehead, "I just…"

Francis shook his head, looking down then back up with gentle eyes. "Arthur," he sighed with fond exasperation, "If you are not ready to tell them, that is fine."

Meeting that understanding sapphire gaze, guilt on his brow, Arthur could only send a tight smile of apology.

A chuckle trickled from the older of the two as he shuffled closer and leaned in for a kiss. Lingering, each moment of it burned.

"I'll tell them soon," Arthur swore as they parted, their faces still close, "I promise."

"Alright," Francis complied with a smile, "Alright."

It was still hours from sunset as the warmest part of the afternoon came and went and the brilliant blue of the sky grew muted. Checking his phone, Arthur saw he'd half an hour to get home. Any other day he might have left it another ten minutes, but he didn't feel like rushing in the heat. He stood and brushed the grass from his trousers, signifying it was time to go, and Francis did the same.

Swatting at the midges which emerged with the dwindling light as they trekked the dirt paths and pavements on the way home, both found themselves dawdling, though not from fatigue as they might have excused it. They ground to a halt on reaching their crossroads and turned to one another coyly.

"I'll see you in a few hours," Arthur bid his farewell and went to head down the adjacent road when he felt a hand grip his wrist.

Turning back, the expression with which Francis looked at him set him buzzing.

"I was thinking," Francis began, releasing his hold and letting his hand hover awkwardly, "that maybe tonight after we leave you would want to come to my house?"

"Oh, I don't know, Francis," Arthur hesitated. "I mean, I want to, but if I come home as late as I did last time my mum might actually kill me."

Now Francis paused. "What if you stayed?"

"Oh," Arthur breathed, realising what he had meant. "Oh," he reddened as he realised what this implied.

The silence which stretched between them was no silence for Arthur as the blood pounded past his ears like a gong.

Francis opened his mouth to speak again, ready to backtrack, when Arthur beat him to it.

"Okay," he nodded, rolling his lips together.

"Okay?" Francis repeated, gaze flitting between his eyes.

Smiling, Arthur nodded again. Had he said anything, his voice would have trembled.

Sending the same expression back, a soft laugh fell past Francis beaming lips. "Oka-" his voice caught with excitement and he cleared his throat, cheeks pinker than Arthur had ever seen them, before trying again. "Okay."

Both rushing into a hurried kiss, lips meeting with some force, they came away from one another with twisting grins of anticipation. Uttering their temporary goodbyes, they went their separate ways, barely able to wait the few hours they were parted.

The end for real this time. x