AUTHOR: seecarrun

August 9th, 2014

Arthur had never lived the most extraordinary life.

He had grown up in an average town, went to an average school, got average grades, and now worked an average position at an average job. And while he had average looks, the only thing not average about him was his less than average social life.

That, was positively horrendous and depressing and he didn't want to talk about it.

"You are just not trying hard enough, mon ami," Francis, Arthur's gorgeous and flashy best friend scoffed, sipping at his wine. "If you put yourself out there a bit more, the perspectives will come flocking."

"Easy for you to say," Arthur grumbled. Because it was. Francis never had a hard time finding himself a date for the evening, and couldn't possibly understand how difficult it could be for someone as plain as Arthur.

And sure enough, the moment Francis excused himself to refresh his drink, a handsome, blond haired, blue eyed blur crept its way through Arthur's peripheral vision, awkwardly making his way toward Francis at the bar.

Prepping himself for that obnoxious wave of unwanted jealousy to take over him once again, he loudly sipped his drink in a vain hope to drown out the incoming conversation.

"So, uh, hey," the young man was saying to Francis, not at all blocked out by the slurping. "I really hope you don't think this is too forward of me or anything…"

Here it comes…

"But, could you, like, introduce me to your friend over there?"

What.

Arthur caught himself spinning around in his chair to face the scene, not trusting his ears to be accurately capturing the conversation, but turned back just as fast, not wanting to be caught staring.

In his haste, he must have missed the rest of the conversation, because before he knew it, two pairs of footsteps were getting closer.

Francis, grinning from ear to ear in that stupid, knowing way of his, held out his hand toward the handsome, lightly flushing man by his side. "Arthur, this is Alfred. You caught his eye and he wishes to say bonjour."

Arthur gave this Alfred a once over, and found, to his surprise, he was even more good looking than he had first observed.

Too good looking.

"Francis," he hissed, grabbing the Frenchman by his jacket and pulling him closer to whisper harshly in his ear. "Is this some kind of bloody joke? Who is this guy?"

"Mon cher," Francis gasped, looking offended. "You wound me to think I would trick you in such a way."

Arthur raised an eyebrow and glared.

"Okay, so maybe it is not too off base," Francis admitted, "But I promets I do not know this young man, and he is genuinely interested!"

Arthur, once again, looked over Alfred, who at this point was looking even more unsure of himself, and almost ready to be sick. His face softened.

"Hello Alfred," he finally said, turning to Alfred and catching him only slightly in surprise, "my name is Arthur. It's a pleasure to meet you." He held out his hand.

"Oh, uh, h-hey!" Alfred chirped, returning the handshake vigorously. "You're British! That's, that's really something. I-I mean! What brings you to the states?"

They carried on like that throughout the night, and to Arthur's surprise, it was one of the most pleasant evenings he had had in a long time.

It was only when he took out his phone to take down Alfred's number, that he realized Francis had apparently left them some time ago. In his stead, a simple text message sent from Francis's phone, almost three hours previous.

"I told you so. ; ) Have a good night, mon cher!"