Work Text:
Frances has always loved to draw.
When she was eight, her mum watched her doing her art homework and noticed that she had a real flair for drawing. So when she came home after getting a great grade for her work, Frances was greeted with a cuddle and a present: a sketchbook and a box of posh drawing pencils. And from that moment on, her love of drawing began.
When she was thirteen, Frances won an art award at school. And her drawing (an intricate drawing of the London cityscape that she drew on a school trip to the Tower of London) was framed and still hangs on the wall in her art classroom. And her mum was so proud.
When she was sixteen, she fell in love with Carys last. And so whenever Frances drew and doodled into one of her many sketchbooks, she drew pictures of Carys, sketching the face of her friend who she wished was her girlfriend. And after she kissed Carys and ruined their friendship and Carys ran away, Frances shredded every single one of her sketches and threw them away.
When she was seventeen, she started to draw fanart for Universe City, a podcast she later learned was run by her neighbour, Aled Last, Carys’ twin brother. She drew rather scruffy drawings of how she imagined the characters to look and posted them on her blog, enjoying the activity despite the fact that lots of people didn’t understand it. One time when she told a classmate about her fanart, she scoffed and asked her what the point was supposed to be, because you can’t make a living from it. Frances didn’t bother to point out that some things are more important than earning money, and decided not to speak to her again.
When she was eighteen and Aled became famous because of that amazing podcast that brought them together, Frances began to draw pictures for the official promotional material for Aled’s performances. Again, she didn’t get paid, but she didn’t care. She was supporting her best friend and doing what she loved best: drawing.
When she was twenty one, Frances fell in love with Carys again. She started to draw portraits of her again, amazed by how much her art style had improved in the last five years. But she didn’t tell Carys, not wanting to ruin their friendship all over again. Things were so much better now, with Carys back in her life and Aled living away from his mother and Daniel at university like he deserved to be; everyone was happy, and she didn’t want to ruin it. So she just kept drawing pictures of Carys and wished she didn’t have to keep falling in love with the wonderful girl – no, woman now – that was Carys Last.
When she was twenty two, Carys shocked and amazed Frances by asking her out on a date.
“I know it’s hypocritical to want to go out with you after everything that happened all that time ago, but…” Carys sighed, looking more awkward than Frances had ever seen her look.
“No, no, it’s fine,” Frances said, smiling (despite still feeling rather stunned). “And… I don’t mind. In fact, I’d quite like to… yeah, let’s go on that date!”
“Brilliant!” Carys said, and she hugged Frances and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
And now she is twenty four, and Frances is moving in with Carys, her girlfriend.
As she helps Frances lug all of her stuff into her flat (well, now it’s their flat), Carys says, “You know, we should frame some of your art.”
“Really?” Frances says.
“Yeah, really. You’re a fucking amazing artist, Frances. Your art is way prettier than most of the shit you can buy in the local shops. It’d make this place look beautiful.”
Frances blushes. “Thanks. That… that means a lot to me.”
And she smiles, knowing life is going to be even better from now on.