Sorry this took a while, school is pretty harsh sometimes ;)

Wrote this on my day off, so hope it's good and please feel free to review :)

Chapter 2

Matthew jumped up from the bench, letting out a yelp as he scrambled away from the stranger. He couldn't believe he'd let himself fall asleep in the middle of a maze! What if he'd been kidnapped? The stranger stood still for a moment, letting Matthew process the situation, a friendly smile on his face as he tilted his head to the side and extended a hand towards Matthew.

"Ciao, I'm Feliciano, but you can just call me Feli, Ve!~ I've never seen you before, are you new? Have you met Francis? Of course you have, if he let you in his garden! Oh! Luddy doesn't like Francis, so don't let him know you saw me, he says Francis is just a big lecher, though I have no idea what that means! Oh, but I'm not here to see Francis anyways! Antonio had something to give Lovi and I'm just a messenger cause Lovi doesn't want Antonio to know that he's really really excited about it and oh no! Don't tell Lovi I said that!"

Matthew blinked, trying to process everything the little Italian, Feliciano, had just told him. None of it was actually relevant, seeing as Matthew knew none of the people he'd mentioned except Francis and wait, had Feliciano had called him a lecher... What did he mean? "Umm, excuse me, my name's Matthew, and yes, I am new, and I have met Francis. What did you mean by lecher? Has he... done something?"

Feliciano reached forward and grabbed Matthew's hand, shaking it vigorously and nodding his head incessantly. "It's a pleasure to meet you! Luddy says that Francis wants to... "get in everyone's pants" I think he called it, though I can't understand why he would want to do that since he couldn't possibly fit inside my pants, or Lovi's, or Roderich's, or even Luddy's for that matter! My pants are much smaller than his, Ve!~ Oh! I need to get going, Antonio is waiting with his present for Lovi in the garden, do you want me to show you the way back! Or you could come back to Luddy's with me! Oh, that would be fun, no? I could show you around everywhere and introduce you to everyone! But... you probably want to stay here right? Francis' garden has always been the prettiest and Luddy's doesn't even begin to compare."

Matthew was fascinated by the amount that Feliciano could say in one breath, and how many facial expressions could flash on his face within a minute. What Feliciano had told him about Francis had disturbed him so much that he'd barely heard what he'd said afterwards. Was Francis the same with everyone? Did he really just want to "get in everyone's pants? Matthew blinked rapidly, scolding himself. He'd just met the man, of course Francis didn't feel anything towards him. He was just a strange boy he'd found in his garden and had felt sorry for him. For some reason, this thought made Matthew's eyes tear up even more and he had to blink even more to stop himself from crying in front of Feliciano. He was tempted to take Feliciano's offer of going with him, but he wanted to talk to Francis.

"Will you take me back with you to the castle? I... want to talk to Francis. And then, maybe if you're still there, I'd love to go meet "Luddy" as you call him." Matthew offered a small smile to Feliciano. He'd just met the small Italian but he liked him. He was full of energy and could make anyone feel better.

Feliciano nodded and reached over to link his arm with Matthew's. "Si!~ Let's go! Antonio must be worried, I was supposed to be there a while ago and oh does he really love Lovi!Even though Lovi hits him and yells at him all the time, it's like Antonio likes it! Luddy calls him a masochist, but I don't know what that is, although it sounds interesting! And I can't wait for you to meet Luddy, he's strong and kind, and even though he can look absolutely terrifying at first, he's actually really nice and Lovi always calls him names but he doesn't let it provoke him and that's what makes Luddy so great! Oh and..."

Feliciano kept talking on and on, non-stop, the whole way back through the maze and to the garden while Matthew just nodded here and there and made little "mmhmm" noises every once in a while. His mind wandered, thinking of Francis, about what Feliciano had said about him, about how he'd seemed like the sweetest person ever, how he'd looked at Matthew like he actually mattered.

They reached the garden quickly enough, since Feliciano seemed to know the maze like the back of his hand and didn't hit a dead end even once. In the garden, Matthew was surprised to find the man who'd called Francis away earlier standing there. The man with the green eyes.

"Antonio! Look! I found someone in the maze! Isn't that wonderful? His name is Matthew and he knows Francis and I told him that you had a present for Lovi, and that he should come meet Luddy and tha-" Feliciano was cut off abruptly when the man, Antonio, placed his hand over his mouth to quiet him and muffled his voice.

"Matthew was it? My name is Antonio. Mi amigo told me about you, Francis. He's in his office, inside, if you want to go find him. I need to talk to Feli about my sweet little tomato." Antonio spoke with a spanish accent, it seemed as though everyone in this place had an accent of some sort so far.

Matthew nodded and gave a small smile to Antonio, assuming that the tomato he mentioned was "Lovi" and that these were private matters. He waved quickly to Feliciano and headed towards the massive doors that led into the castle. He heard Feliciano call that he'd wait to take him to meet Luddy as the doors closed behind him and he headed into the hallway to his left. Francis had given him a tour earlier, but he'd been slightly distracted by holding hands with such a handsome man and he was having difficulty remembering where the office had been. There were thousands of room in the whole castle and Matthew had to open at least 10 doors before he found the right one. He knocked on the door before opening it, of course, and waited for an answer. When he heard nothing, he turned the knob slowly and carefully before pushing the door open. He was certain he had the right room now, unless there was another office in the castle.

He looked around inside, noticing the wall to wall bookshelves containing millions of books, more than Matthew had ever seen in one place, or even in his whole life. In the centre of the room was a large wooden desk. It was carved with intricate hearts and was incredibly beautiful but Matthew was distracted by Francis' sleeping form slumped over it. Matthew took small quiet steps forward, afraid to wake him. He walked around the desk and crouched so he was eye level with the desk, and Francis. Francis looked so peaceful, with strands of his hair falling forward, covering his eyes and a small smile playing at his lips, as though he were having a good dream. Matthew reached out his hand and brushed a strand of hair away from his face, behind his hair and froze when Francis opened his eyes and he found himself staring into them.

"Matthieu." He whispered, a smile slipping onto his face, making Matthew feel weak at the knees and almost forget the reason he'd come here in the first place. Francis reached over and cupped Matthew cheek in his big, warm hand, making Matthew breathe in sharply. "I was just dreaming about you, mon ange."

Matthew couldn't stop the blush that creeped up his cheeks, making him feel warm. He let his hand drop from where it was still frozen, holding Francis' hair. He loved how Francis looked at him, as though he were the only thing on earth(well, wonderland) and he hated to ruin this moment but he had to know.

"Francis... I met Feliciano in the maze and he... He told me things that I don't know whether I want to believe." Matthew whispered, his eyes searching Francis', noticing how they widened as Matthew spoke and how a brief expression of panic appeared on his face before he managed to hide it.

Francis pulled his hand away from Matthew's cheek and sat up at the desk, folding his hands in his lap and looking down, afraid of seeing if Matthew would be disappointed in him. Matthew pulled back too, his eyes already brimming with tears, afraid of hearing this but unwilling to miss it.

"Matthieu, everyone has a past. Mine might not be the best, most innocent one, but trust me when I tell you this, I have changed. What Ludwig told Feliciano is probably right, though I'm not sure he properly understood it himself. I have slept with many people, more than I care to admit."

Matthew couldn't stop the tears, they leaked out slowly, silently and he couldn't stop them. He knew he had no right to feel betrayed, after all, they'd just met and everything that Francis did was his own business. "D-Do you treat everyone like this? Like me? Am I the same? Just like the others? A pretty boy who you can seduce and then move on to the next one?"

His voice broke halfway through the sentence, his eyes locked on the ground so he didn't notice when Francis looked up at him, his eyes filled with sorrow. He'd never meant to make him cry, and he knew he had been wrong with the things he'd done in the past, and he had to make Matthew understand that this was different.

Francis reached over and brushed his thumb along Matthew's cheek, wiping away his tears, but they were immediately replaced with more.

"Matthieu, I hate to admit it but I gave up on love a long time ago. I stopped looking. No one was important to me, they were all the same. But then I found you. In my garden. The most beautiful boy I'd ever seen, just lying there. And Matthieu, you are not the same. Far from it. You are special, and I know it, and I'd be a fool to let you go. S'il te plait, will you look at me?"

Francis placed his finger under Matthew's chin, pulling it up so that Matthew was looking straight into his eyes. The tears has stopped, and Matthew hesitated. Oh, how he wanted to believe Francis, with all his heart, but how could he be sure. As he searched Francis' beautiful blue eyes, he saw nothing but honesty. Francis was looking at him that way again, like nothing but him mattered, and Matthew gave in. He nodded lightly and let a small smile creep onto his face and saw Francis's face light up like the sun, and knew he'd made the right decision.

Francis cupped Matthew's cheek one more time, leaning closer until their foreheads were touching. He brushed away the last of Matthew's tears with his thumb. He searched the boy's violet eyes for a moment, afraid he would pull away but found nothing but relief in them. Relief that this wasn't all a game to him, that maybe, he was actually being treasured by someone.

"Close your eyes, Matthieu." Francis whispered gently and Matthew did as he was told. Francis smiled to himself slightly before closing the distance between himself and Matthew, pressing his lips to Matthew's.

How was it? Hope it was okay, and sorry if you didn't like it :( I put a lot of time into this chapter and I promise things will start happened soon :3

P.S. Would you guys want me to put translations for the french? Since I'm fluent, I don't feel the need and I don't put too much in, but lemme know if you'd like it ;)