~*~

Chapter Eight: Little Princess

~*~

It was now Saturday Night. Alfred and Yao were out, and Ludwig and Arthur were out as well:

"Jeez, how could I forget that Arthur and Ludwig were all kissy-kissy?!" Matthew asked, exasperated.

"Don't worry about it, Mattie," Kiku replied over the phone, "Though… how could you forget about Arthur, don't you, you know, live with him?" Male Lane asked.

"Redemption?" Feli asked from another end.

"For what?" Matthew asked.

"I never knew you from before the beginning of the month, Mattie… you must have been ignored or kept to yourself or you were invisible or something…" Feliciano replied.

All three seemed to think about this for a moment. With Feliciano and Kiku, Matthew seemed to think about what had happened to him, but he still couldn't remember. But he would try, and it was fun to think up random stories (all not true) with Kiku and Feliciano, excuse me, Male Lane and Male Rory.

"Well, whatever. I now feel bad for both you and Arthur…" Matthew replied.

"I said don't worry about it. If worse comes to worse, I'll have to break Arthur's heart to get Ludwig to myself…" Kiku replied.

"I've heard Arthur's bad at dancing… you could have a dance-off to win Ludwig…" Feliciano said.

Matthew scoffed, "If you guys are going to plot against my adopted brother, I'm going to get off and take a long time to get ready for my dinner with Francis…"

Both of his friends gasped on the other end, even though they knew about his dinner with Francis… though the details they knew not of. "Does Lovi know about your dinner with Francis?" Feli asked.

"Yes," Matthew replied, slightly confused.

"Wait… so Lovino knows about the other man?" Kiku asked.

"Francis isn't the other man, guys. He just wants to talk… about him and Arthur…" Matthew replied slowly, the pieces clicking into place.

"LOVE WEB LOVE WEB LOVE WEB LOVE WEB!" Feliciano shouted excitedly.

Both Kiku and Matthew had to pull the phone away from their ears as Feliciano yelled. As soon as he was finished, Matthew was the first to set his phone against his ear, "I can practically hear you flailing over there, Feliciano…"

"Sorry… it's just:" the other two heard Feliciano breathe in excitedly, ". LOVE WEB!!!!"

Matthew regretted keeping the phone to his ear. He grimaced, "Okay… Surely we'll get this all figured out, though… I'll talk to you soon. I have to get to dinner in an hour and I stink."

Kiku and Feliciano said their goodbyes and Matthew put the phone back into the cradle before sighing and cursing Feliciano's aptly named 'Love Web.' He didn't like that more and more threads were being added to it…

~*~

"Ah, Bonjour, Mathieu! Welcome~" Francis called to him in French. He was sitting in one of the more well-lit parts of the café, keeping true to his word that this would not be romantic.

Matthew smiled and sat down in the other chair. The Café Monde was a quaint little café, with a less-lit section for couples (was that Berwald and Tino making kissy-faces at each other?) and one for families and… well… Francis and himself were pretty much brothers anyway…

"How are you this evening, Francois?" Matthew asked, glancing over the menu. There really wasn't anything big in it, but a few things caught the French-Canadian's eye here and there.

"Heartbroken. Filled to the brim with sorrow and loneliness…" the older blond replied dramatically.

"Ah, bon? D'accord." Matthew replied, ignoring the other's dramatic airs.

"Do you at least want to know why, mon cher?" Francis asked.

"Something about Arthur, I presume. Or some girl you woke up with this morning…" Matthew replied nonchalantly, knowing the Frenchman's antics.

"The former is correct, Mathieu… Arthur is with Ludwig and not me!" the Frenchman cried once more.

They were starting to get stares from the family of four by the window, but Matthew simply had to smile and they turned away, either charmed by the French-Canadian, or embarrassed that they were caught staring at the strange blond men.

A waiter came up to them and asked what they wanted to drink. Matthew ordered black tea (still becoming Arthur, eh?) and Francis ordered decaf coffee, putting on a show of being 'manly' in front of the obviously gay waiter. Matthew rolled his eyes as the waiter left. "You had your chances, I suppose, to be with Arthur… why didn't you take it?"

Francis blinked his pretty blue eyes (they remind me of a girl's eyes, Matthew thought briefly) and sighed, his eyes closing and a slight smile forming on his lips. It was Matthew's turn to blink.

"I wanted to tell you that story…" Francis replied.

Matthew nodded, "Then go ahead…"

Francis nodded and began:

~*~

I had just moved here from Paris. I was about five years old, give or take a couple of months. My mother was unpacking and crying about my father's death, so she told me to go outside and get to know the neighbors. I did. And I met the Kirklands next door. Arthur was playing on the lawn, and his brothers were watching him, laughing at his youngness. He was about my age, again, give or take a couple months.

He saw me and came over. We made quick introductions in the way only children can. When he heard that I could only speak French, he took it upon himself to teach me English. Being five, we both spent hours not actually being teacher nda pupil, but I rather would listen to him and copy his mouth movement. Instead of a classroom setting, we went out in the back near the river we lived by… and we would play in the water or go exploring instead. We were very good friends… until first grade, when we were split into two groups: boys and girls.

~*~

Matthew interrupted, "Arthur thought you were a girl?"

"A very tomboyish girl. I wore trousers and picked up worms with him by the river all those years…" Francis laughed, "But that was just some back story… here's the tale I want to tell for real…"

~*~

That summer we deemed ourselves in love. Again, we were young, about six now. We were going into the same first grade, and we wanted to spend our last summer of freedom together. One day, we were lounging under Our Tree, the name for a willow we had found and thought the coolest thing on earth, I guess.

He took my hand and looked me in the eyes and said, "You are my little princess."

I had no qualms about being a princess. I thought we were playing a game. But then he kissed me on the lips and… I was hooked. I didn't care if I knew I was male and he thought I was female. I simply wanted to continue being his little princess…

~*~

"But then you were found out as a boy and…" Matthew trailed off just as their drinks were served.

The waiter winked at Francis, but the Frenchman paid no heed to him, just ordered a sandwich. Matthew ordered a different kind of sandwich and the waiter sighed as he grabbed the menus from Matthew. He was embarrassed about coming on to Francis, apparently…

"He's resented me ever since…"

Another string on the infamous love web was set. "You never had a chance, Francois. But then he came out of the closet and you… you could have had your chance… why didn't you take it, Francois?"

"I was afraid. I thought he still hated me. Sure, we're almost friends now… but that's just an almost. And besides, he has Ludwig now… what am I going to do?" Francis asked.

"Feliciano likes you… a lot…" Matthew said.

Francis stared at him, "I don't want to break his heart. That's what I do because I secretly pine for Arthur… I just want to be Arthur's—"

"—Little Princess," Matthew finished for him. He thought long and hard, but by the time he had an answer, food had been served. He decided to keep his thought to himself through the rest of dinner, and by the time they said goodbye, Matthew felt like the Web would have to be dealt with soon…

~*~

TRANSLATIONS:

Ah, bon? D'accord. – "Oh really? Okay."

~*~

Aww... young!England and young!France has always been my favorite time to play around with. And what's better than England thinking France is a girl? (I thought France was a girl for five seconds... and everytime I see his picture I have to remind myself he is a perverted, womanizing man...) But I think I'm going to write more about England and France's relationship, along with America and Canada's relationship. Also, there are two ther (surprise!) relationships I want to focus on. And then there's the friendship between the Gilmore Boys.

Anyway. I have Finals this weeks, so wish me luck, and I will surely write like the wind after the last Final is finished.

Adieu~

~Anastasie~