Hey guys, Kitty29 here with a new chapter of Colours!
First of all, sorry about the chapters becoming shorter and shorter, it's just that I have so many ideas for this but don't want to overwhelm you guys with so much in one chapter so I'm kind of spreading out the ideas over the different chapters. So they will probably start being a bit shorter from now on ^^;
Now that that's done with 30 CHAPTERS! WWWOOOOOOO! THAT IS JUST SO DOUBLE FUGDEY COATED AWESOME! Would NOT be able to do if without any of you guys! Lots of love!
Lastly, thank you Luna-Discord for the 600th review! (my god wtf that's a lot of reviews). Next one is 700! let's see if it will go!
Anyways, long author's note done, please enjoy!
Letting out a tired sigh the young nurse continued to read through the thick textbook. Becoming a nurse was definitely a mistake. Although there was nothing wrong with the profession it just wasn't the right thing for her. There was something about taking orders from the higher ups, doing most of the work and not getting much recognition that wasn't exactly her idea of a career. It wasn't as if she wanted to stop helping people but it would be great if she could look at her bills each month and not feel as depressed as she did. Maybe she just lacked the compassion for this job.
Sighing again she forced herself to pay attention to the very boring medical book in front of her—seriously, reading the dictionary would probably be more fun. Though she knew that if she wanted to become a doctor she would probably need to have the terms memorized. Goodbye social life for the next four years.
"Studying again? You really need to relax on your break!"
The women looked up and smiled at the sight of her blond friend. "Tino! What are you doing here?"
The Finnish male smiled warmly back before he raised the cups and bag he had in hand. "I brought you some food. I know how hard you've been studying and I worry about how much you eat."
The women couldn't help but feel touched as the other took a seat next to her. "Aw, you're too good to me! But don't you have a shop to look after?"
Tino shrugged as he opened the bag and began to pull out the food inside. "I'm taking a break, like you should be doing. There's only so much I can do!"
"Well, okay Mom," she said jokingly before she took the offered sandwich and coffee. "Are these from the shop?"
"Mm-hmm, I made them myself. I hope you like it!"
"You know I'll eat anything you make, Mom."
Tino made a face, Before she said it as a joke but the second time it was as a nickname. He really didn't know how the nickname had started. All he knew was that one friend started calling him that and then another friends started until, even with his protests, it stuck. It was embarrassing to be called it in public but his friends were so stubborn that he could do nothing but accept it.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," the women started as she unwrapped her meal. "I met a guy~ he's really sweet and he's studying to be a Doctor, just like me! I think you'll like him, Mom."
Tino eyebrow twitched at the name. Why did it have to be Mom, couldn't it have been Dad? Just because he was attracted to guys, liked cooking and cleaning and occasionally knitted did not make him any less of a man! "That's great! I'm really happy for you."
"Thank you," she said happily before she took a bite of the sandwich. She made a satisfied sound before she went on. "So when are you going to stop chasing after that mystery man and get a boyfriend?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Tino said almost instantly as he started to unwrap his food as well. "And why does everyone think I'm chasing after him? I'm not chasing after anyone! He's probably back in England anyway."
"Nuh-uh," she said, obviously not convinced. She took another bite of her sandwich but swallowed before she continued, "Then maybe you should stop telling that story to everyone you meet."
"It's a good story!" Tino countered with a small laugh before he bit into his sandwich as well. "When I meet a guy, I'll meet a guy. I'm not in any rush. I'm still young you know!"
The female just laughed before she went for her coffee. "You sound like an old lady."
Tino just huffed at her before correcting it to 'old man' in his head. And what was she talking about? 'Chasing after that mystery man' for all he knew he could be a Englishman with a wife and two kids living in a house with a white picket fence. Besides, that happened when he was little. Whoever it was probably forgot that he had saved him from that double decker bus all those years ago. Why was he thinking so much about it anyway? Releasing a sigh through his nose he reached for his drink and took a good swig of caffeine.
"So remember, the next shift is in a few hours. Thanks so much for taking it for me!"
"N' pr'blem. I won't f'rget."
Tino nearly chocked on the hot beverage, thumping his chest in an attempt to clear his airway.
"Tino? Tino are you okay?" His friend asked in concern but he could barely hear it over the racing thoughts in his head. That strong accent. That voice. He had told himself he would never forget that voice and he didn't.
"It's him," he gasped in a small voice like if he spoke any louder he would scare him away. She pulled a confused look but before she could ask what he was talking about he had abandoned his stuff and ran. The blond broke out of the break room before he ran down the hallway, his mind in a frenzy. He wasn't completely aware of his actions as he sped past doctors and patients alike to get to the entrance. All he knew was that he had to find the owner of that voice and from what he gathered he was leaving and then coming back again. His hunch was only conformed when he heard the voice again when he was nearing the entrance.
"G'odbye M'rk."
Gah! Why did this hospital have to have so many doctors! He couldn't tell which one that voice belonged to! Growing a bit frustrated, Tino pushed past the people to make it outside. He nearly bust the doors down to get out, looking around the area wildly. It took a few moments for his mind to tell his body that he had no idea exactly who he was looking for and he simply stood there feeling extremely silly. Wow he um...He got a little too excited there. He wasn't even sure that the voice he heard was, well, that voice. Suddenly aware of the looks he had gathered, he decided to go back to the friend that he oh so rudely abandoned.
So he turned to go back inside, only to bump into someone much larger than him. "O-Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't see you the—"
Though the word died on his throat when he looked at the mans face. Dear goodness! He didn't even know if the word scary was enough to describe it but it was certainly the first thing that popped into his head. It wasn't as if he was bad looking or anything it was just...That look. He looked like he was about to pull out a knife and just jab it into his throat. Tino suddenly found himself shaking under the man's gaze.
"I-I'm s-so s-sorry! I-I'll be s-sure to b-be m-more c-careful f-f-from n-now on!" Tino stuttered before he ran past him and back into the building. Berwald just watched him go, his shoulders sagging slightly. Why was it that nearly every new person he came across—especially shorter people, which was more then he wanted to admit—acted like that around him? Was it because he wasn't really a smiler?
"It's 'kay," he said to the long retreated figure before he turned around and continued walking.
/ / / \ \ \
Oh bleeding horse tits.
Arthur groaned when a strong ray of light reaching his eyes did nothing but further aggravate the pounding in his head. Ah, hell...Where was he?
Throwing the covers off him and forcing himself to sit up he found himself laying on the couch in his family room. Though not a huge trip from the kitchen he last remembered himself in he couldn't help but wonder how he got here. He had been drunk enough things to know what kind of drunk he was and the kind that managed to strip down into their underwear before grabbing a blanket and crashing on the couch he was not. So who put him here?
A piece of folded up paper placed on the coffee table in front of him suddenly caught his eye and he reached over and grabbed it. Hell it had his name on it, it had to be for him, right? Unfolding the paper and focusing his slightly blurred vision he read it's contents:
Hey Dad, great call getting drunk and leaving me with Mattie all last night. Isn't it ur job 2 make depressed teenagers feel better or something? Ur parenting skills sux! -150 parenting xp! U owe me and Matt! -the amazing Hero Alfred
P.S Matt and I r gonna be late cause we got come emergency ability meeting after school or something, k bye.
Rereading the letter again Arthur moaned and lay back down. Oh balls, don't tell him it was Alfred that did all this. Goddammit...Why didn't Francis just cut him off when his words started to slur like he told him?
...
Fucking hell.
Pushing himself up again he swung his legs over the couch as his mind slowly replayed the events of the previous night. Matthew had gone off the deep end, Alfred took him away, Francis broke out the alcohol, he told him his ability, they fought, Francis...Francis was mad at him.
Francis was mad at him.
Francis hated him.
Absentmindedly twiddling with his wedding ring he pushed himself to his feet and headed to the place where it all happened. Hangovers were just an intense form of dehydration which meant that after he drank a litre of water and downed a few pills he would be as right as rain. Cracking open the fridge he grabbed the first bottle of water he saw, which happened to be Francis'. The Frenchman had taken to waking up early and taking a jog before he had to go into the restaurant meaning they now always had water bottles stacked up in their fridge. Arthur recalled hearing someone say that no one looked good in running shorts but Francis had great legs. He swore he could probably look good in any outfit.
"I miss the wine bastard already..." Arthur decided to say aloud with a depressing sigh before he unscrewed the bottle and took a mighty swig.
"I find coffee works better."
In his surprise Arthur spat out his drink in a fashion that he thought only happened on television. Coughing, Arthur turned to find Francis standing in front of their coffee machine, quite focused on his task of preparing the brew.
"Francis!" Arthur exclaimed, too awed by the others presence to care about his headache. "You're back!"
"Do not think I came back for you," Francis retorted as he finished up his preparations and flicked the switch in the on position. "I came back for the kids. They are having a hard enough time to have to deal with us fighting."
Arthur just stared at him dumbly, not in the right state to be thinking. "...So does that mean I'm forgiven?"
Francis released a sigh through his nose. Though he was done with his task he still opted to looking down at the coffee machine than his husband. "Arthur I...I still need some time."
"You had last night."
"More time. Arthur." Francis released another sigh to try and control the sudden annoyance he felt. Silence fell upon the two, awkward and tense. Arthur felt obliged to break it.
"Where did you go last night?"
Francis twisted his body so that it was facing the Brit and crossed his arms, though his gaze was still off to the side somewhere. "I slept with a friend."
Arthur nodded, a bit relieved. He knew that Francis didn't have any family here and didn't want him sleeping in some alley somewhere (though knowing Francis, he probably wouldn't do that no matter how drunk he was). "That's good."
This time, Francis didn't allow silence to come over them as he began to make his way out of the kitchen. "Well, I should be going."
Arthur watched him go, only half absorbing what was going on. "Going? Why?"
At this, Francis finally looked at him though he didn't stop walking. "The kids are at school, Arthur. There's no reason why I should be here." He was out of the kitchen now but he was still talking. "Clean up your stuff in the family room and breakfast is on the stove."
"Francis, wait!" Arthur called out, ignoring the pain in his head. Francis stopped walking and Arthur easily caught up to him. He stopped a few feet away from him. He wanted to be closer, he yearned to be closer. Despite him not caring for displays of affection, whether it was in public or private, the one thing he wanted to do was pull the other close and apologize for every wrong doing he's ever done and beg for forgiveness, no matter how insignificant it was. Maybe he still had some alcohol in his system that was influencing his thoughts, maybe it was this hangover that was blocking proper thought but he didn't care. That's what he wanted to do but he didn't do it. Francis was already mad at him, he didn't want him to dislike him further. Since he was unable to show it the only thing Arthur could think of saying was, "I love you."
Francis stiffened at how those words sounded almost...Desperate. Dieu, couldn't Arthur listen when he said he needed time? He couldn't just say 'I love you' back and act like nothing happened. So, not looking at his husband, he quietly replied with something else, "Moi aussi." Before he walked towards the door again. Though those words weren't what he wanted to leave on. Those words weren't what he needed to leave on. He came here for a reason more important than putting his drunk husband to bed and making his kids breakfast.
"Everyone makes mistakes." Is what he chose to say before he left the house, leaving the British man alone once again.
/ / /five hours earlier\ \ \
Francis woke up groggily as a dull ache formed in his skull thanks to the alcohol from the night before. He had to say he was a little embarrassed at having a hangover at all. He knew he was a bit of a wuss when it came to the strong stuff but even so he only had three shots. But wait, didn't he also share a glass or two of wine with his friend? Yes...Yes that sounded about right. Yawning, the blond tried to recall the events of the night before.
Well, he remembered his fight with Arthur, that was still rather vivid in his mind. He had stormed out and, like he promised, took the bus. He wasn't sure what bus he took or even if he had a destination in mind. He just wanted to get as far away from the house as possible. That's when he ran into Colette Bunton, his co-worker, or rather underling, at the restaurant. The original plan was just to say hello and then leave before anything happened, but that's not how it worked. She somehow managed to get the fight with Arthur out of him and insisted that he spend the night at her place. He was grateful for the offer so he accepted and followed the red head back to her apartment. It was there that she poured them some wine and they talked. He was surprised to find that they had quite a bit in common. Though they saw each other all the time at work the only thing they really talked about was food or her becoming his apprentice. He wished he could say that's were it stopped, that they talked away into the long hours of the night before he realized he needed to go back home to make breakfast for his kids. But it wasn't.
Colette then told him the real reason why she wanted to become his apprentice. It wasn't just because she admired his cooking, it was also because she admired him. Apparently she's admired him for a while. His mind started to buzz and then...
Francis turned to see Colette still dreaming contently beside him, as equally naked as he was.
"Fuck."
Translations:
Dieu – French for God
Mon Aussi – French for Me too, essentially
Thanks bombayxprodigy for the idea of making Francis do something he's gonna regret lol. (She's gonna hate me, she told me not to do it xD)
Thank you SchemingAlchemist, Lately, cutegixie, Randomanime456, TheFirstDarkblood, Silvermoon of Forestclan, Chocola Emo Shizzle, Axxi, ForeverTheHeroAndKing, Luna-Discord, FrenchFryLovesYou, Her Diary, Ayla The Librarian, MistyLovesSesshomaru, Naruta13, MatthewKirklandWilliams, XxAlysxX, Leite Destiny, Sakima Hebi, ThisIsMyCliche, fan girl 666, Italiangurlinamessedupworld, xxassassinxx18, Keroanne, DeathDeparture and Monochrome Cloud for the reviews!
Thank you for reading!