Warning: This update has a lot of swear words.
"Hello, who is here?"
There was a long silence before a voice cut through that silence, and into my soul, ripping me to pieces.
"A-ah... Bonjour, mon cher."
Arthur P.O.V.
My whole body shook, my spine shuddering, mouth gaping.
Coming to my senses, I let my head face down to the ground.
"Fra-Fran-cis..." I hissed, through gritted teeth. My eyes were stretched wide-open in what was either anger or shock. "What... The fuck ... Are you doing here?"
"Mon amour, I-" I felt his soft fingers stroke my cheek, I scolded myself for almost leaning into them on force of habit, and hurriedly smacked his hand away, scowling furiously.
Viciously, I growled: "Don't call me that, you have no right, you absolute pillock!"
"Arthur, just hear me out!" The bastard asked. It was nice to hear the man so desperate. As much as I hated him- no, as much as I detested him... I wanted to hear his stupid, whiny voice.
"Go on then, sod, let's hear what's so very important; that you brought your shitty, unwanted French-arse, here."
I felt hands intertwine with mine, I wanted to pull away, but I couldn't even twitch a finger. Damn, not now... Not after I got so far!
"Arthur, when I lost you, I thought it was for the best! I only wanted sex, sex, and more sex. But when I kept having sex after losing you, it never felt right. I tried with all of my partners, women and men! But, there was not one, that could fill that empty void inside of me. And it was ever since you left, that I realised the only one I can properly love, is you... Arthur Kirkland."
I let my head bow, and my hair fall into my face. Then I looked up, with a crazed grin, I could taste copper in my mouth. Listening to that speech had made me bite my lip so hard in anger and frustration that I was bleeding in my mouth a lot, and my teeth were most likely stained red with the bitter blood.
"I, left you?" I laughed madly and loudly, truly it was amusing. I tightened the grip on his hand, digging my nails in. "You left me, and you have the cheek to come here, declaring your love for me?" I tried to stifle another burst of insane chuckles, to no avail.
"Mon cher, I don't care what you think, or how you act... We will get you fixed. You can be mon Arthur again!"
"Fixed? You are the one who fucking broke me, you piece of shit!"
I tried to swing punches, claw at his face, to do anything to prove that I didn't need him. But then, I felt something press against my lips, and figured out to my despair that I was being kissed, by Francis. My eyes watered. No please, I'm not finished yet, please just a little more time! I stood there stiff, resisting the urge to reciprocate the action. I fought with my mind and body, almost stumbling over the edge, before the lips left mine, leaving only the familiar taste of wine and the scent of Iris. The man remained close to me, his warm breath could still be felt on my skin, and I shivered when he spoke.
"Breathe, Arthur."
Memories flew through my mind, of all those painful moments that had happened. My mum, my dad, the orphans, Yao, the bullies, Francis.
I ripped myself from the man and fell against the ground, my long fingers curled and tangled themselves in my hair and salty tears ran down my face, painfully stinging my eyes before they departed. I mixed between chewing at my already torn lip, and grating my teeth together. I felt my throat go raw with how I screamed, I want to die, let me die.
Alfred P.O.V.
I had heard enough, I burst through the door. First, I glanced over at Arthur on the floor, screaming. I walked over and crouching down, I put an arm around his shaking form, into his ear I whispered in a soothing tone:
"Sorry Artie, I will be making the decision for you... It's nothing personal."
Without thinking, I pecked him quickly on the cheek, on impulse you could say. Before getting up, and cracking my knuckles.
"Hello there, Fran- Ugh, sorry, nope. Can't say that name, tastes too disgusting on my tongue, so let me just call you... Dickhead." The Frenchman backed away slowly. Wow this guy is not brave at all... What did Artie see in him?
"Now let me just list, for you, a few rules." I paused, before continuing in a stern voice. "You are listening... Aren't you?" I tried to make my tone as threatening as possible. Smirking at the frantic nods, I carried on.
"Number One: I would like you to apologise to Arthur for ever showing up in his life. Number Two: Get your filthy ass out of this facility. Number Three: Never, ever, come near Arthur again. Do you understand me, shit-head?
"Ou-Oui!" He needs a wee, I scared him that much? Awesome!
"If you need to piss, bastard, it's down the hall to the left. Now get out of my sight!" I shouted, pointing to the door.
The Frenchman scurried off, out the door. The villain was defeated!
"And the hero saves the day!" I grinned, before turning back to see how Arthur was doing, he had calmed down, and was now looking at my direction in shock.
I shuffled nervously, my grin faltering... Had I done something wrong? Shit, maybe he actually wanted to be with Francis again? Now he would hate me for sure! Shit, shit, shit, shi-
"Heh." I snapped out from my inner-despair, to see Arthur biting his lip, with a smile on his face. I stared longer, and watched as he burst out into laughter, with tears flowing freely from his eyes.
He got up slowly, and with cautious steps, he made his way over to me.
"Alfred..." He breathed, through chuckles. He wrapped his arms around my neck (he was on his tip-toes), and held tight. With that beautiful smile adorning his face, he told me: "Thank- you, thank-you so much!"
My heart-beat was fast, and butterflies partied in my stomach. Words could never explain how much I loved this man, and even though I was going confess right there and then, I decided against it. This was not the time, I would do it another day.
...
"You've been suspended?!" The Briton asked in shock.
"Yeah, heh... Only for a week though! They say that I treated the visitor badly, but when I explained the situation, they didn't say they understood... But I think they thought my actions were in the patient's interest. Yanno, because you were like crying?" I grinned, rubbing the back of my neck.
"You got suspended because of me?" Arthur asked, looking ashamed.
I put a hand on his shoulder, in the hopes of comforting him.
"I got suspended, for you, not because of you." And I lifted myself from the bench on which we sat, the wind tousled my hair gently and I breathed in. I had never felt so alive.
"Alfred, I-"
"Anyway, I had better be off now Artie. Be kind to your temporary nurse until I get back, yeah?"
And I walked off, I would miss Arthur... But I would be back soon. And then, I would tell him. I would tell him how much I love him, and make sure that even if the feelings were not mutual... That that man would remain not to feel any pain whilst I was with him.
Arthur P.O.V.
"Alfred I-" I wanted to tell him I was thankful to him, I was sorry, I was happy... But I was interrupted by the very man I wanted to tell all these things to.
"Anyway, I had better be off now Artie. Be kind to your temporary nurse until I get back, yeah?"
"Al..." But he was gone. I had made a mental-map of how to get around, but it wasn't easy. I sighed, Alfred had done all that for me, a mere patient, he could have lost his job, damn-it! I smiled, that man had restored a little bit of my faith in humanity. My heart-beat quickened, and my life seemed a whole lot happier with him. I wondered if he would think about me whilst he was away...
"A-ah, what am I thinking?" I mumbled, my cheeks heating up. I touched them with my cold fingers, hoping to extinguish the burning sensation.
I heard footsteps coming towards me, and I glanced up suddenly.
"Hello?" I asked, not knowing who the question was being directed to, until that familiar accent entered my ear.
"Hello... I will be your nurse for the time-being."
I smiled once again, knowing that it was not a coincidence that I had gotten this person as my nurse.
"It's nice to... Hear you again?" I playfully joked.
I could hear the smile on the nurse's face as they replied:
"I'll be looking after you again, after all these years."
I smirked. "I'll think you'll find it was me, looking after you, cry-baby." And despite the words, you could hear the compassion and love behind them.
"Is that so, well I'll be the one proving you wrong this week." A challenge?
"Is that so, Yao?"
"It is so, Brother Ā sè." We burst out laughing, before talking a little bit longer.
You know what Alfred, I think I'll be okay.
Francis P.O.V.
As I hurried out of the room, I let a smirk adorn my lips and slowed down to a walking pace.
"So Arthur earned himself a guard-dog?" I asked the air, and chuckled. "Sorry mon amour, I'm not letting you escape just yet."
AND THAT IS THE END OF PAINLESS, I hope you enjoyed and-
Just kidding, this is a UsUk story... It isn't over yet folks! Mind you, that would have been quite a good ending to make an audience hunt you down and torture you until you think of a better ending. Painless will be going on for longer, and because I'm a bad person, I don't know how much longer! I knew where I was going with Swimming Lessons, but I'm totally buggered with this. I did this in Swimming Lessons on the tenth update, so let's make this tradition.
I'd like to thank (in no ranking):
Fezzes64- (you got this in Swimming Lessons too), for taking her time out of her schedule to review all of my updates, you are a massive help and you always have something interesting to talk about!
Dragon Slayer's Girl- For complimenting me and making me blush, which is no easy feat as I am pretty emotionless and permanently rosy-cheeked! You review on a lot of my chapters and we've started talking, and you are an easy person to converse with.
EmDashEnDashHyphen- (Another person from Swimming Lessons), for joining me in another story, and for reviewing each of my updates! We haven't talked a lot, but I want you to know how grateful I am to you.
And thank-you to anyone who: Favourited, Reviewed or Followed. Your support is so important to me!