Arthur was fuming, his eyes not looking up at Francis as the other man made his excuses for abandoning him, leaving him on his own. Yes, Arthur knew exactly where Francis had been – picking up girls with his friends.
Arthur knew that he wasn't exactly a catch, with his not really outstanding looks and his…
Condition.
The one that meant that it was potentially fatal for him to be on his own – when he was little he had insisted that he was with 'Flying Mint Bunny' so could be left on his own. His parents had explained that the person with him had to be able to get him to hospital
. Francis knew about it and had promised never to leave him in a situation where he was in danger like that. It wasn't like he didn't know his boyfriend was epileptic, it was that he'd just seen a pretty skirt and forgotten. He was definitely the worst!
Arthur looked up at Francis, who fell quiet at the look Arthur was giving him. He had known what he was doing, and the flicker of guilt grew into a drowning torrent that pointed out again and again who was at fault. The facts were cold and harsh; Arthur might have died because he couldn't resist flirting with a girl. His boyfriend, who he loved so much, might be lying run over in the middle of the road.
Absence epilepsy meant that Arthur's eyes would glaze over and he would not stop walking – in fact, on their first outing Francis had pulled him back from the road with his heart feeling like it would thud out of its chest at the sight of Arthur's glazed eyes, and not being able to answer what he had done.
He'd promised to protect Arthur, and he'd betrayed him.