#Alfred and Matthew are in a fight for the majority of the trip before Alfred gets tired of the passive agressiveness | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

specswritesstuff · 5 years

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Home is where..The heart is..?

A little something I just wanted to write @armadaderaj ;)

“Papa? Where are we going..?” Matthew asked tiredly from the back seat, stuffed bear squeezed against his chest. The back seat was crowded, two suitcases full of Matthews clothes and a few blankets back there with him, another Louis Vuitton suitcase in the trunk full of clothes and toiletries and whatever else that could be shoved in there. Francis was driving aimlessly around the streets, hiding his tears from his son in the dark.

“Somewhere...” the Frenchman tried to keep his voice steady “We will see if there are any hotels open” but Francis knew damn well that there would be no hotel rooms around here...London was always crowded. And at one in the morning? It would be even less likely.

“I wanna go home...I don’t wanna go on a vacation at nighttime”

“This is not a vacation, bebe, it’s just somewhere to stay” Francis pushed his hair back from his face, hands shakey

“Papa? Why were you and daddy yelling?” Matthew shifted around to rest his head on his suitcase, pulling his blanket over himself tightly “You shoulda been in bed..”

“Ce n’est pas grave...It’s just adult stuff” he tried to brush it off, to seem as if he was not upset. Francis hated that Alfred and Matthew had to hear all of that...It broke his heart

“Very loud adult stuff...” Matthew muttered half to himself “When are we gonna get there? You passed two hotels! Just now! Turn around!”

“Matthieu, don’t use that tone please...We can’t go to those hotels, the sign says they are full..” It took a half an hour for them to find one. It wasn’t fancy and it didn’t have a pool, much to Matthew’s dissapointment.

The two settled down in room 467 on the fourth floor, their stuff still in suitcases, Matthew in his pajamas still. “Papa...I wish you brought Alfred too”

“Your father has him...” Francis sighed, rubbing Matthews back soothingly “Go to sleep...I’m sorry we woke you”

“S’okay...Love you Papa...”

“I love you too” Francis whispered, waiting until he was sure that his son had fallen asleep to cry

---

Francis woke up earlier than he usually did. The curtains in the hotel were too thin, then didn’t block he light out at all. Matthew was still sound asleep, his face smushed into the pristine, white pillow case.

Francis’ phone had twenty notification. Sure some were games, candy crush was begging him to play, and a handful were from Gilbert and Antonio ‘Hey! So are we going out on Saturday or what?’ But the majority were from Arthur... Twelve missed calls with voice messages attatched, three texts

‘Bring back my fucking son’, received 1:30am, today

‘Dammit Francis, come back’, received 2:00am, today

‘I’m sorry’, received 3:45am, today

Francis couldn’t find the energy to respond, tossing his phone to the other side of the bed, curling back up with his son with a sad sigh.

It had all started for no real reason. They had just put the kids to bed, Arthur got a call from work. Francis had made a comment that admittedly sparked the whole thing but at the moment, he denied it. ‘I’m surprised they need you again, as if you haven’t been there for ten hours already. It’s almost as if that police station is your husband and not me’

Arthur’s temper was easy to ignite, they both knew it...

‘Oh yeah? At least I have a real damn job. How’s the artist business going? How many paintings have you sold as of late?’ Arthur stood and started to pace around

‘You know I’m going to culinary school! Fuck off, I’m still bringing money in!’ Francis gestured to his stack of books on the coffee table, cook books and kitchen equipment manuals. He had an exam next week

‘Not as quick as you’re spending it on your frivolous ingredients and candles and conditioner! College isn’t cheap either, bastard!’

‘Well I’m sorry! I found a new passion, okay? I did not know that you were the fun police too!’ Francis was standing now, pointing a finger at him. Arthur snarled and grabbed his hand, holding it away

‘This isn’t about fun! You should have stuck to your teaching job instead of quitting the second you decided you were bored with it! Fuck, I’m working ten hours because of you!’

It was all a red, angry blur. Francis shoving Arthur’s hand off, the two yelling louder and louder, the subject as hand mattering less and less as they took their stress out on eachother. Francis had slapped his wedding ring into Arthur’s hand as he shoved clothes in his bag, stomping across the hall to get Matthew

‘You’re not taking my kid! Get back here!’ But Francis was a passionate man. When he was upset, he would let his husband know it. He scooped up his son, kissing his cheek ‘Lets go Matthieu, pick out some clothes, you and I are going on a little trip’

‘Francis I swear to god-‘ ‘Papa? Why are we leaving?-‘ ‘Just pack, bebe-‘ ‘Papa? Where are you taking Mattie?’

Francis carried Matthew to the car, buckling him in gently and kissing his forehead ‘Everything is going to be okay...’ Francis whispered, crying to reassure himself more than his son. Arthur stood on their porch, still in his work clothes, absolutely fuming as Francis pulled out of the driveway, his tires screeching as he sped down the street. They just drove...And drove...

And here they were

“Papa? Papa get off of me...You’re makin me all sweaty..” Thats right. Matthew needs it to be practically freezing to be able to sleep peacefully

“My apologies, mon ange...”

Matthew sat up and stretched his stiff shoulders with a little yawn “So now that its the morning, does that mean we get to go home now?” He was only six, growing like a weed. Lord, he was taller than Alfred and everything “I wanna watch cartoons with Al...”

Francis sighed and reached over, grabbing the remote and turning on SpongeBob Squarepants. Matthew groaned and frowned at his father “Papa, I wanna watch with Al! You don't know who anybody is and I gotta tell you all the time” He complained, crossing his arms and flopping back against his dog shaped pillow pet with a huff.

Francis huffed a bit too. He knew this was all at his fault and his son’s anger was directed at him. But what was worse than anger? Tears...

Matthew was so much like Francis. He strived to speak basic French, only being six. He refused to cut his hairs he could look like his papa, through Francis would still trim it so it wouldn't look unkept. Matthew acted a lot like Francis, they both laughed loudly and cried when they needed to. Apparently, this was Matthews time. They boy rolled over to turn his back to his father so he could cry but of course, Francis knew better. he pulled his son into his lap and kissed his forehead

“Why are you crying, mon chou?”

“Cause!” Matthew sniffled and wiped his snot on his arm, which Francis hated “Cause you don't love daddy anymore!”

“That...That isn't true. You know that we love each other very much”

“Yeah, well if you did, you wouldn't have yelled at him like that” Francis sighed and jus chose to ignore that, staring ahead at the stupid, yellow, happy sponge on the screen. The squid man reminded him of Arthur...

---

Thirty missed calls. Thats how many he had. Francis chose to ignore them, scoffing softy each time his phone buzzed until a certain message caught his eye...So he opened it.

‘Francis, I need you to come back. I have to go in to work’, received 9:30am today

Francis got up, his scoliosis ridden back aching, his eyes stingin. He stepped out onto the hotel room’s balcony, calling his husband back. Arthur picked up on the second ring.

“Francis...”

“What. What do you want?” Francis pushed his hair back, wishing he had. cigarette but he gave that up years ago

“I...I have to go to work. Commander Lewis called, I cannot...We...Uh...”

“Get on with it”

“I can't take Alfred to work with me. How far away are you?”

“Fuck...Arthur, why do I always have to stop what I'm doing to save your ass?” he huffed “I can be there in a half hour”

“As if you're doing anything! I don't have a half an hour! I have to get there-”

“Is it an emergency, Arthur? Is someone dying, dead, crashing?”

“No, but-”

“Goodbye then. I will see you in a half hour or less” And with that, Francis hung up. It felt so strange to not tell Arthur he loved him before shoving his phone in his pocket...He always did

Just last week, he told his Englishman that he loved him nearly every hour, maybe more...The words slipped right off his tongue, easy to say since they were so true. He did love his husband. Since he had met Arthur in high school, Arthur has always wanted to work in law enforcement. Arthur’s father was a cop, his grandfather was a soldier and his great grandfather had fought in not one, but two wars. Arthur has always been proud to be English. he's wanted to protect Englishmen,women and children from danger. It was in his blood. Francis remembers endless nights helping him study, going on tortuous jogs with him to encourage him to stay in shape, made him stay up late less and getting into the habit of waking a bit earlier. Francis has been by his side all of these years, even sitting in the crowd as Arthur graduated from the police academy, his heart swelling with pride as Arthur shook hands with his instructors for the last time.

Francis has always told Arthur that he loved him. and every time, it was true. It hurt so much to fight with him. They are both so passionate, arguing isn't uncommon by any means but disputes are usually settles by hugs and kisses, the rule of ‘no one goes to bed angry’ has held up for over a decade, as long as they have been dating or married...What happened? Francis’ heart felt like it was being squeezed, like someone was putting rubber bands around it. His whole chest ached but he refused to apologize first. He always apologized first.

He gave himself a minute to compose himself before heading back into the hotel room “Matthieu...Put your shoes on, we are going home now” His son grinned and threw his covers off, dashing to the corner where their bags were, far more eager to go home than Francis was.

((Uhhh I would love to finish this now but it would be easier to make it two parts ;) until next time~

#fruk #face family #fic #hetalia #my stuff #APH England #APH France #aph America #aph canada #aph face family

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