Arthur rolled onto his back and rubbed at his eyes as the sun streamed in through his window. He scowled to himself but slowly got out of the bed. He stumbled into the bathroom in a half-asleep daze. Upon looking at his reflection in the mirror the teen winced and quickly turned on the cold water and splashed himself a few times. "Ah! Cold cold..." He quickly reached for a small hand towel and dried his face off before leaving the bathroom to go to the kitchen.
Ian was already up, which was slightly shocking to Arthur because the elder liked to sleep in on his off days, and was making breakfast. "Mornin'. You okay?" The redhead asked without even turning towards Arthur.
He wouldn't admit it out loud but Ian was worried about his younger brother. After dinner last night the blonde had excused himself and gone straight to bed. So he had woken up earlier than he normally did because he knew Arthur was usually up by nine and made breakfast for the two.
Arthur shrugged and took the plate handed to him and sat down across from Ian. "Yes, I'm fine. Why are you up so early anyway? Normally you're asleep until past noon." The Brit took a bite of his burnt toast and somehow resisted the urge to gag.
Ian looked up surprised. 'Didn't think of an excuse!' "Oh, uh, we're going over to visit Francis later today. Wanted to get ready. And stuff. Shut up and eat your eggs and sausage!" The redhead rushed out before shoveling a mouthful of mushy eggs into his mouth. 'Good one Ian. He'll never question that! ...I hope...'
Arthur blushed a bit, eyes wide. "We're going over to the frogs house?! Why?!"
'Damn! He questioned! Think of an excuse!' Ian's mind raced as he chewed on the toast, stalling. "I, uh, think you need to get out of the house more!" 'Yeah that works!' "So I called Francis last night and he said we could come over and spend the day with him and Matthew tomorrow! Well today now..."
The blonde teen sighed. "Ugh... Fine! When are we leaving?" Ian blanked. "Uhm... Around noon." Arthur gasped. "But that's in just a few hours!" Ian shrugged and continued eating. Arthur shook his head. "I'm going to go shower. Thanks for breakfast." And he left the kitchen to get ready for a shower.
Ian sighed in relief. 'Now I've just got to call Francis and let him know we're coming over. Hope he didn't have plans.' Once he heard the rush of water from the shower he pulled out his cell phone and called the Frenchman.
After only a few rings he heard the French accent of his friend. "Bonour?" Francis asked. Ian could hear some noises in the background and smirked softly. "Mornin' Francis. What are you watchin'?" He asked.
Francis rolled his eyes. "Matthieu picked this show." At the sound of his name Matthew looked over to his papa and tilted his head. Francis shook his head and grinned to the child. "So what do you need mon ami?"
"Well... I was worried about Arthur because yesterday you know that girl was in that accident?" Francis frowned deeply and stood up. "I'll be right back mon cher. Oui?" "Well I think she was friends with Arthur. He was really upset. Well he asked why I was up so early and..." Ian trailed off.
Francis raised an eyebrow. "Oui? And what?" "Well I made up an excuse that we were coming over to see you and Matthew and we'll be there around noon?" Francis rolled his eyes. "If that's okay with you?"
Francis rubbed his forehead. "Well I suppose that's fine. I was going to take Matthieu to the park later and get ice-cream. We're going to walk to the park. It's only five minutes away." Ian grinned. "Alright. That's great. So if you give me your address Arthur and I will come over and then we can all just walk to the park together?"
Francis nodded and gave the address which Ian quickly wrote down. "So we'll see you two in a few hours then." "Oui." "Bye Francis." "Au revoir mon ami~"
Ian picked up his now empty plate and put it in the sink and quickly began to do the dishes. Ten minutes later he was in the living room and Arthur came out of the bathroom, hair damp. "You finally done?" Ian called out. "Yes! Bathrooms open." Arthur yelled back. The redhead nodded to himself and made his way to the bathroom.
Arthur looked around his room and tossed his pajamas onto his bed as he walked over to his closet. He reached into the closet and pulled out some dark blue jeans and slipped them on. He pushed shirts aside and shook his head with a scowl before going to the dresser and digging through it. He held up a white t-shirt and then tossed it behind him and then held up a t-shirt with the UK flag and was a v-neck and nodded in approval before slipping it on.
As he looked up into the mirror he didn't know why he was taking such care with his appearance. 'We're just going to see the frog! No reason to take my time with my clothes. Even though he always looks good... Stop that right now Arthur!' The teen shook his head as if trying to shake the thoughts out of his mind.
Before he knew it time had passed and it was now twelve o'clock and Ian was banging on his door. "Come on yah brat! Time to go!" Ian grinned as his flustered and very annoyed younger brother threw the door open. "I'm coming! You wanker!"
Ian nodded and started to walk to the front door, Arthur trailing behind him huffing slightly. Ian whistled to himself, which annoyed Arthur, as they got into the car and began to drive to Francis' house. Arthur crossed his arms and stared out of the window with a blank expression. Ian occasionally glanced over to Arthur worriedly until they arrived at the Frenchman's apartment.
The redhead knocked on the door and grinned as he heard footsteps come to open the door. Arthur scowled. "Bonjour mes amis. Come in. We were just getting ready to leave." Francis moved out of the way so that the brothers could come in.
Arthur blinked confusedly. 'Leave? What are we doing here?' He thought to himself. "Monsieur Ian! Monsieur Arthur! Hi-hi!" Matthew shouted out happily as he ran over to the two, one shoe coming untied. "Woah!" The small child tripped over his untied laces and fell a few feet in front of Arthur.
Arthur winced slightly and walked over to help the small child. "Mon cher! Are you alright?" Francis asked worriedly as he began to walk over to the two. Matthew nodded as he watched Arthur tie his show. "Merci Monsieur Arthur." Arthur blushed. "Uh just Arthur is quite alright Matthew."
Francis smiled down softly at Arthur. "Merci Arthur. So are we all ready to go to the park now?" Francis asked. "Yay! Oui Papa!" Matthew clapped his hands and hopped around a bit. Ian chuckled to himself. "We're ready when you are Francis." The Frenchman nodded and opened the door. "Alright then let's go."
Everyone left the apartment and Francis locked the door. Matthew held onto his right hand and grinned up at his papa. "We like the park! I can swing up really high! You wanna watch me?!" He asked Arthur. Arthur blinked hurriedly and pointed to himself. "Me?"
Matthew nodded. "Mhm. Papa gets worried that I'm going to fall off of the swings but I don't. It's like I'm flying!" Francis and Ian chuckled. Arthur smiled. "That's cool." Matthew nodded and continued to make idle conversation as the four walked to the park.
Once Matthew saw the bright yellow color of the slides he let go of Francis' hand and gripped onto Arthur's. "Come on! Come swing with me!" And the small child started to tug on Arthur's hand. Francis chuckled as he watched his son and new friend go to the swings.
"So what do you want to do while they play?" Francis asked, turning to face Ian. The redhead shrugged. "We could walk? Or swing? What do the grown ups usually do when they take their children to these places?"
Francis chuckled. "Usually I'll play with Matthew but it seems that he'd prefer playing with Arthur today. Why don't we just walk. We can watch them that way." Ian nodded in agreement and the two began to walk around the track.
Ian watched as Arthur laughed as he pushed Matthew on the swings. "Cute kid." Francis looked over and chuckled. "They both seem to be enjoying themselves."
The redhead sighed. "I'm worried about Arthur. He was really upset about that girl last night." Francis sighed. "She's one of my students. Have you heard any other news about her? The last I heard was that she was just in critical condition in the hospital."
Ian shook his head. "I'm afraid not. That's the last I heard as well. That's the positive side about living in such a small town I guess. Everyone knows everything. News spreads like wildfire." Francis sighed and nodded.
The duo had walked around the track once and were now close to the swings again. Francis looked around worriedly for Matthew and saw him sliding down the slides with Arthur. He chuckled and sat down in one of the swings, Ian sitting beside him after a few seconds.
They watched as Arthur and Matthew played for another hour and a half until Francis stood up and began to walk over to them. "Matthie! Arthur! We're going to go get ice-cream! Come on!"
"Yay! Ice-cream!" Matthew yelled, running and jumping into Francis' arms. "Wee! I'm going to get vanilla! With sprinkles! What about you Papa?"
Francis thought about it and tapped his chin as he walked. "I think I will get strawberry." Matthew nodded in approval. "What you Monsieur Ian?" He stared at the redhead with shinning violet eyes. Ian shrugged. "Vanilla is fine with me." Matthew grinned. "What about you Arthur?" Arthur thought about it. "I think chocolate." Matthew nodded again. "Chocolate is yummy."
Ian opened the ice-cream shops door and let the three go in. They quickly ordered their ice-cream and Francis paid for everyone's, insisting that it was his treat, and they sat down in a booth to eat the ice-cream. Arthur stared at Francis for a bit, which went unnoticed, then stared back at his ice-cream. 'Ignore. Ignore. Don't stare. Very rude to stare.' Arthur said repeatedly in his head.
"Would you like to have dinner with us tonight?" Francis asked Ian. Ian grinned. "If you'd have us that'd be cool." Arthur blushed softly and continued to ignore the two. Matthew clapped. "Yay! You'll like whatever Papa cooks! He makes yummy pancakes!" Francis sweatdropped. "I don't think our guests would like to have pancakes for dinner mon cher. I'll make something else, oui?"
Matthew pouted but nodded and scooped another spoonful of ice-cream into his mouth. Francis chuckled. Once everyone had finished their ice-cream the four left and made their way back to Francis' apartment. The Frenchman turned the t.v. on and Matthew showed Arthur his bedroom and then picked out a movie for the two of them to watch; Rise of the Guardians.
Francis chuckled as he watched the two of them watch the movie. "So what are you gonna cook? I'll help." Ian offered. "I'm thinking about just popping that pre-made lasagna into the oven." Francis replied sheepishly. "It's not as bad as you'd think. Only takes about forty minutes." Ian chuckled. "Alright."
The Frenchman opened up the freezer and took out the box, Ian watching. Francis heat up the oven and popped the frozen lasagna into the oven. "Heh kind of going to be an early dinner. Hope that's okay." Ian glanced at the time on the microwave. It was only just past three o'clock and the lasagna would be done before four.
Ian shrugged. "Fine with me." Francis chuckled. "Awesome." "Sounds like you've been spending too much time with Gilbert." Ian scoffed. Francis rolled his eyes. The two finished catching up on what had happened in their lives since high school until a small timer went off, alerting Francis that the lasagna was done.
As Francis leaned down to take the lasagna out Ian couldn't help but stare at the other man's backside. Ian blushed almost as bright red as his hair and quickly looked away. "Could you reach up into that cabinet," Francis pointed, "and get out the plates?"
Ian nodded even though Francis couldn't see. Francis reached into a drawer and pulled out four forks and a knife and proceeded to cut the lasagna into squares. Ian handed him a plate and Francis placed a slice of the cheesy food onto the plate and handed the taller man a fork to place onto the table. They did this for the next three plates and then Francis called for his son and Arthur that dinner was ready.
The four ate in mostly silence, Matthew rubbing his eyes and yawning every once in a while. "Someone is ready for a nap. Or at the very least is going to be going to bed early." Francis said with a smile. Matthew shook his head and ate in silence, too tired to reply.
Arthur chuckled and glanced down at the boy next to him. He couldn't help but want to hug the sleepy child. Matthew was an adorable little kid. Once everyone was done eating Ian picked up Matthew and carried him to the living room. "I uh... Do you need help? With the dishes?" Arthur asked Francis shyly.
Francis tried to hide his surprise. "If you'd like." Arthur nodded and picked up his plate and handed it to Francis. "Uhm I'll dry..." He mumbled taking the offered rag from Francis. "Merci." The two stood side by side in an awkward silence as Francis washed and Arthur dried.
Arthur put a now dry plate down and took a fork from Francis. "I... I was with Linh and Yong-Soo before the accident." Arthur mumbled softly. If he were asked why he was telling Francis this, he wouldn't be able to answer. He just felt comfortable with the Frenchman there.
The blonde man stared at the teen in shock but quickly shook it off. "Oh?" He asked quietly. Arthur nodded. "If I had talked to them for just a few more minutes, seconds even, she wouldn't be in the hospital." Francis turned the water off and began to put the plates away. "I know it's not my fault... I didn't cause for it to happen... But I still feel guilty. Like it is my fault." Arthur wouldn't look up through his whole confession.
Francis didn't know what compelled him to do what he did next, but he pulled Arthur close and hugged him. "It wasn't your fault." He whispered softly. "I know but-" "Non! No buts Arthur. It was not your fault. How could you, or anyone, have known what was going to happen?" Arthur sighed and leaned closer to Francis' chest.
They stayed that way for a few more seconds. Until Arthur realized he was leaning against his French teachers chest and listening to his heartbeat and Francis realized that he was hugging his student rather tightly. Both stepped away from each other and blushed brightly and refused to look at each other.
Francis coughed softly. "I will finish putting the dishes up. Merci for your help." Arthur nodded. "Yeah... Sure. Uhm... I'm going to ah go to the living room with my brother and Matthew." Arthur all but ran out of the kitchen.
Ian looked up as Arthur sat beside him. "You ready to go? I need to get some stuff done for Monday." Arthur nodded and hoped that his blush was gone. Ian nodded and stood up.
"Hey Francis, I think Arthur and I are gonna go on ahead and head home. Matthew is asleep on the couch by the way." Ian said softly. Francis smiled and nodded. "I knew he wouldn't last much longer." Ian chuckled. "Thanks for lettin' us hang out and eat your food."
Francis waved a hand. "Anytime. I enjoyed it." A quick image of him hugging Arthur flashed into his mind and he felt his face get warm and he hoped that it wasn't obvious that he was blushing.
Ian chuckled. "Well I guess we'll, or I'll, see you Tuesday." He leaned in closer to Francis and blushed softly before backing up. "Sorry. I think it's still a habit to hug or kiss you." Francis blushed and rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry Ian. I'm just not ready to date just yet. I don't think I could do that Matthieu." Francis thought about hugging Arthur again and couldn't help but feel like he was lying to the redhead.
Ian nodded. "I get it." He grinned and walked back to the living room, Francis behind him. "Hey Arthur, let's go." Arthur stood up and refused to look at Francis in fear of blushing brightly. "I'll see you Monday Monsieur Bonnefoy." The teen said quickly before rushing out of the apartment.
Ian raised an eyebrow and scowled. "I swear he's so rude. I'm sorry." Francis chuckled in embarrassment. "Don't be. Seems like he's just shy." The redhead shrugged. "I'll see you later Francis." "Au revoir." Francis shut the door behind his friend and sighed.
'He's my student. That should be bad enough. But he's also my friend's younger brother. I can't do that again.' He thought as he carried Matthew to his room and tucked the small child into bed.
Ian whistled on the way back home and Arthur twitched slightly as he tried to ignore it. "Well I don't know about you but I had a good day." Ian said happily. Arthur nodded in agreement. "It was nice. I enjoyed it." He thought back to the hug and blushed as he smiled softly.
A/N: maple! So? How was that? This chapter just kind of wrote itself. I'm quite proud of it. Also my keyboard is effed up! Like majorly. I have to practically bang the space key to make a space and the 'j', 'p', 'a', 'h', and shift key are all the same way -n- next chappie is almost finished by the way! So review~ x3