Breathe Anew
Considered
I am so SORRY that I haven't updated in a long time. I was away and I didn't have a chapter ready. Please forgive me. To be forgiven, this chapter is longer than the others.
Also, you must all go and listen to Yellow by Coldplay. Why? Because it is the official song to this story. The lyrics are just so appropriate.
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Breathe Anew
Considered
Arthur Kirkland had a pretty decent childhood. Born in England, he moved with his parents when he was six, when his father got a job transfer. He firmly believed that he was a good child and took good care of his two younger brothers.
His life was pretty average. He did well in school, had a few good friends, got along well with his parents and didn't cause too much trouble. Everything was fine until the year he turned seventeen. He was heading home from what they called "soccer" practice here, when he received a call from the hospital, telling him that his parents were in a car crash.
It was from that point on that his life spiralled out of control. In a matter of a few hours, he went from being the eldest son of an average family, who had two loving parents and two younger brothers, to an orphan in charge of his brothers. How was he, a seventeen year old, young man, supposed to take on such responsibility?
Lucky for his sanity, their father's brother helped them out until Arthur graduated from university and got himself a steady job. It was obvious to anyone who knew Arthur prior to the accident that the death of his parents changed him forever.
From being carefree and having an easy smile, he was now cynical and harsh with his words; insult ready at his lips. He tried his best to raise both Matthew and Alfred and provide for them and in retrospect, he did a pretty damn good job.
Sure, they didn't always get along, but they stuck together because they were family and that was what families did.
Arthur made sacrifices in his life for the sake of his brothers and even though he did not regret what he did for them, he sometimes wondered what the outcome would have been if his parents were still around.
Even though he struggled for many years to overcome the death of his parents, he never fully came to terms with it and he became much more protective of his family. He refused to let anyone get close to him and it amazed everyone, even himself, when Francis Bonnefoy waltzed into his life.
But before he could even start to think back about Francis, his mind would recall that it was because of Gilbert, (the asshole Matthew fancied), that he met Francis and that was something else he couldn't come to terms with.
When Matthew first introduced him to Gilbert, he immediately forbade his brother from ever seeing the man again. Matthew got quite upset at that and clearly told him to keep his nose out of his life. It turned into a rather impressive fight.
It wasn't that Arthur had a problem with the fact that Matthew was seeing a man. It was more the man in question that he did not like. Arthur heard things about Gilbert and he just didn't want his baby brother to get his heart broken by that… that scum sucking bottom feeder. He just wanted Matthew to be out of harm's way. How nicely that turned out.
When Gilbert introduced him to Francis, he refused to even meet the Frenchman. In his opinion, anything and everything that was related to Gilbert was either stupid or worthless; hence this Francis fellow was surely a complete and utter fool. In some regards, Francis did fit the description. He was a fool for falling for Arthur.
Their first meeting was nothing short of catastrophic and Arthur was amazed and slightly pleased when Francis called him back the next day to ask for another date.
Even though Francis was hardly what Arthur looked for in a human being, something clicked between them. They spent half their time together bickering and getting on each other's nerves, but it was just their own special way of saying that they cared for each other.
At the end of the day, Francis was always there to comfort him and lend a listening ear for all of Arthur's troubles. Sometimes, he wished that he had known Francis when he was seventeen, but he was thankful that he knew him now with what just happened to Matthew.
Arthur firmly believed that if they weren't already living together, Francis would have permanently moved in with him after they heard of the accident. Every night for the past two months, Arthur would fall asleep on the couch, leaning against Francis and the older man would remain there until his companion woke up in the morning even if he found the position incredibly uncomfortable.
Through the years, Francis became Arthur's greatest friend, his pillar of support and his own personal haven that he could run to when things wouldn't go right with the world. If only it wasn't Gilbert who introduced them, then everything would have been more perfect.
It seemed that now, every problem he had came from the same source for the past seven years. Matthew was always the quiet boy who never got in that much trouble, but once he started seeing Gilbert, he started talking about these big ideas of pursuing strange careers and trying new and dangerous things, such as sky diving and bungee jumping.
His greatest trouble came two months ago when Matthew injured himself and fell in a coma. It was all Gilbert's fault. It was because of Gilbert that Arthur didn't have a decent night's sleep and Gilbert's fault that he was worried sick. He warned Matthew that something bad would happen to him and he was right. Arthur worried that his brother would never wake up and that only aggravated his problems further.
Ever since the accident, Arthur went to the hospital at least four times a week. He went on the weekends and on his day off. Sometimes, when he didn't have a lot of work, he would come on another day.
Arthur tried his best to come when Gilbert wasn't there, but that was a difficult task considering that the other man was there every day, thrice a day. If anything, Arthur could admit that he was devoted, for now.
Whenever the two of them would be there at the same time, Gilbert would be seated on the side he always sat on, and Arthur would take the seat closest to the door. The two would acknowledge each other with a brief nod before Arthur would take his place. After that, the two of them would glare at each other. Gilbert would continuously hold on to Matthew's hand and Arthur could see in his eyes the look of worry and love that was there.
They would rarely exchange words since Arthur still believed that it was Gilbert's fault for what happened and Gilbert didn't want to talk to Arthur if he could avoid it.
In the end though, no matter how much Arthur hoped that Gilbert would tire himself of Matthew and not show up one morning, or simply leave, every time, Gilbert was there. He would have to deal with it for the time being.
OWARI 6
TO BE CONTINUED
Whee, I'm done!
This chapter is special because I started and ended it in Vincent land.
I do accept anonymous reviews.
Started writing: May 20th 2010, 2:48pm
Finished writing: May 20th 2010, 11:11pm
Started typing: May 23rd 2010, 3:52pm
Finished typing: May 23rd 2010, 4:43pm