Francis did not want to go to school no matter how much Arthur told him that that teacher would not hurt him again. He tried to explain that he was not allowed near the school and he definitely was not allowed inside. He also said that extra guards were going to be at the school but that made no difference to Francis, he did not want to go.

As they talked, the boy kept touching his neck nervously and something clicked in Arthur's head.

"Would you go if I gave you a scarf you could wear around your neck?" Francis nodded. "Alright." The older blond left the room and came back with a scarf which he wound securely around the boy's neck, covering the ugly purple bruise. "Is that better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Arthur took his hand and led him downstairs so Jeffrey could drive them to school and work. The child continued to fidget nervously in the car so he did not his release his hand to make him feel a little calmer. When they arrived at the school, Jeffrey parked and they both walked Francis inside. The receptionist allowed them to take him to his new teacher's class so they would all feel more comfortable.

A kind young woman met them at the door, introducing herself and putting them all at peace.

Even with the good feeling the teacher had given him that morning, Arthur couldn't help but worry about how Francis' school day went. It caused him a great deal of distraction from his work and made him late for not one but two meetings. At one point, Cameron had actually stormed into his office and warned him if he didn't get his head on straight, he'd ship Francis back to France on the next train.

The thinly veiled threat was enough for him to work without a break for the rest of the day.

When it was time to pick up Francis, he tried not to run out the door. He could finally hear how the boy's day went and wasn't going to waste anymore time at work when Francis might need him. Luckily Jeffrey seemed to think similarly as he drove quickly, yet safely, to the school.

Arthur's heart began to race when they pulled up outside and Francis was nowhere to be seen, again. He shared a worried look with Jeffrey before leaping out and dashing inside.

The receptionist was sitting behind the desk still and smiled at him when he entered.

"Miss Gray asked that you come to her classroom. She would like to speak to you about Francis' first day." Seeing his wide eyed look, she held up a hand. "Breathe. He's fine." Arthur took a couple breaths. "There," she soothed. "Do you remember how to get to her room?" He nodded. "Then I'll leave you to it."

Walking down the hallways, he tried to think of any reason Francis' teacher would want to talk to him. Sure, the receptionist said that she wanted to talk about his first day but that couldn't be it, right? His last teacher didn't do that.

He growled at the thought. Francis' last teacher was a monster. Of course he didn't do something like that. But he still couldn't help thinking negatively. There had to be a reason. There had to be. Had Francis gotten hurt again? Surely they would have called him this time. Had he hurt someone else? He definitely would have received a call about that. Had he refused to do his work? Had he slept in class? Had he had an accident? Had he-?

He had reached the door to Francis' classroom. No more time to wonder. Pushing open the door, he saw the woman he had met that morning seated behind a horseshoe shaped table. Francis was coloring a paper at a table on the other side of the room. He looked up at Arthur, smiled, and went back to work, clearly at ease. That was a far cry from how he had left him several hours earlier which made Arthur feel much better.

"Mr. Kirkland," the teacher greeted kindly. "Thank you for meeting with me." He walked over and sat across from her. "There is nothing to worry about. I just like to meet with all my parents so they can know how their student is doing and I know your situation is a little special." The older blond took a deep breath, listening. "First of all, Francis is an incredibly sweet boy and many students have already gravitated towards him so he has several friends. He also tries very hard but I think he may need some help with his writing." She started to pull out a few papers while saying, "He can understand quite a lot and his speaking and reading are phenomenal which is why I am so concerned with his writing."

She showed him the papers which seemed to be Francis' work for the day.

Taking them, Arthur looked through them closely and noticed the problem quickly.

"Ah, I see the confusion." He ran his finger under a string of seemingly random letters. "For this question, Francis answered, 'My favorite thing to do at home is draw pictures.'"

The teacher stared at him, completely lost.

"How did you figure that out?"

Arthur handed the papers back.

"Francis was tutored in many aspects of this world, including languages. However, he was never taught to complete his work in French or even English. Instead, he was taught to do so in Latin which is what he did here as well." He sighed. "I will talk to him about this and explain why he can no longer use Latin to do his work."

She smiled.

"Thank you."

They both stood up and Arthur collected Francis before leaving.