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It’s 2:23am on a rainy Saturday and Francis and Arthur are fighting again. Matthew and Alfred would have ignored it, maybe even joke about it, but this time was different. Long story short, Matthew had broken his phone and with Alfred’s help, he managed to convince Francis that he needed his second phone for school. In reality he used it to get on a dating app where he was talking to a girl who ended up dumping him. Even worse, he later found out that girl was actually a dude. During one of the couple’s usual fights, Arthur took both of his Francis’s phone and went through every part of it, suspecting that he was cheating. Francis cluelessly allowed him, ignorant to the fact that there was about two weeks worth of chats with a catfish across six different apps.
Matthew desperately tried to convince Arthur that it was him who downloaded the app, but Arthur didn’t believe him a single bit. He thought that Francis had bribed his own son into taking the blame, but Arthur was smarter than that, or so he thought.
Their anniversary was coming up and Francis had a plan to get his lover’s trust back, but he couldn’t do it alone.
“I need you two to help me with something, but you must not tell Arthur and you must listen to me closely, understood?”
“Yes sir!”
“Understood!”
The plan was pretty easy for the two of them. All they needed to do was ask Arthur for a family movie night on Sunday where the boys would pretend to leave for snacks and Francis would make a move on Arthur to try and patch things up. If Arthur started getting physical, the boys would return with his favorite snacks to hopefully calm him down.
Francis knew that he only had one chance to do this and decided to test his luck. Francis incessantly reminded the two that they had to do their absolute best or else his whole plan would be ruined. Although the two had plans that night, (which were just sitting in their rooms and playing video games till midnight) they still decided to cooperate with the plan for a free meal and for the drama.
Come Sunday night, Matthew and Alfred approached the busy brit in the kitchen. Alfred decided to be the one to put his life on the line and gently tapped on Arthur’s shoulder. “Yo, dad, can we watch a movie tonight? Together?”
“Why? I’m quite busy right now.” Arthur placed the soapy dish he scrubbing in the sink and dried his hands with a rag.
“Well, y’know, family bonding time! Plus me and Mattie are pretty bored right now.” Matthew shot his brother a glare for lying straight to Arthur’s face.
“Alright, let me think about it,” Arthur hesitated before continuing, “Is your dad going to watch the movie with us too?”
They shot each other another nervous look.
“Yeah, but the movie isn’t long! You guys can sit on opposite sides of the couch, Mattie and I will sit right in between you two!” Replied Alfred nervously.
…
…….
“You need any help with that? We could help you if you’d like.” Alfred tried to make the situation less awkward by changing the topic but it was pretty obvious it didn’t work.
“I’m fine, just let me think about it while I finish this. I’ll let you know what I think when I’m all done.”
The two brothers quickly retreated to Francis’ temporary bed on the couch where Francis was waiting, eager to hear what they had to say.
“He said he’ll think about it, but I doubt he’ll say yes.” Matthew hung his head low, he already knew that they were done for.
“We’re so cooked dude, Arthur’s totally gonna say no!”
“It’s all my fault! If only I hadn’t downloaded that stupid dating app, this wouldn’t have happened!” Matthew hid his face in his hands.
“Don’t say that bro, it’s kinda my fault too, y’know. I was the one that convinced you to use dad’s phone for that after all.”
.
.
A few hours later, Arthur reluctantly went to the boys’ room to give them his answer.
“You two, come out!” Arthur called in a slightly hesitant tone, he didn’t want to sit and watch a movie with Francis of all people, but if it meant it made the boys happy then so be it; Is what he told himself to excuse his desire to spend time with Francis. But he wasn’t going to admit that.
“Yeah? Is it yes or no?” Alfred jumped out of his gaming chair, headphones still on and the game still running. Matthew got up with him as soon as he heard Arthur’s voice.
“Yes, we can watch a movie. But right after I’m going to bed. I have work and I need to get up early.” Alfred and Matthew gave each other a prideful grin.
“So, can we watch the movie now?”
“Yes, yes, Alfred. Do you two want any snacks before the movie?”
“No thanks, it’s a pretty short movie anyway!” Alfred wanted to object and ask for snacks right away, (which he was going to scarf up before the movie even started) but he had to play along with it for the plan so he stayed silent.
“Well then, come downstairs. Francis is already down there, of course…” Arthur quickly turned around and headed downstairs, not leaving much time for the brothers to respond.
“It worked, Alfred, it worked!!” Matthew grabbed Alfred’s shoulders and shook him, dropping the headphones off his head.
The boys ran down the stairs to the couch where Francis has been forced to sleep at since that unfortunate day when Arthur went through his phones.
“Dad, dad, he said-“ when they got to the living room, they found out that Francis didn’t need a heads up.
“Ah, yes. Sit down mes amours. Arthur’s already here.”
Everything was already set up and ready. The movie was already pulled up, Francis had somehow managed to get Arthur to sit pretty close to him, and the lights were already dimmed enough for the tv to be the main light source in the room. All that was left of their master plan was to get the two all alone and hopefully get them to make up.
About thirty minutes into the movie, when they were instructed to set out their plan, the boys quietly let their fathers know that they would get snacks and take a bathroom break before quickly retreating into the kitchen where they watched the two. The first few minutes were silent and slightly awkward. Although they both tried not to, they were both visibly tense just being alone in each other’s presence. For what seemed like forever, neither of them said anything before Francis cleared his throat and turned to speak to Arthur.
“Arthur, how are you-“ Francis attempted to start up a small conversation but his attempt was quickly shut down.
“Let’s just watch the movie, yeah?” Arthur clenched his fists. He was trying his hardest to not start a fight with the frenchman who simply wanted his husband to show him love again. It was obvious by now that Arthur did not want to speak, but Francis wasn’t going to back down, not until he could finally clear up all the misunderstandings between the two of them.
“Please Arthur, Just let me speak-“
“I’m here to watch a movie with the boys, not to chat with you.”The two brothers watched intently from the kitchen, ready to intervene at any moment.
“I know mon amour, but please just listen to me.”
Silence…
“What? What do you want to tell me, Francis?” Arthur was starting to become more and more frustrated, but Francis decided to keep pushing his gradually dissipating luck.
“I know you’re still mad about what happened but I promise you it was all just a misunderstanding! You know how much I love you and our family, why would I ever throw that all away for someone on a dating app?”
…
“I love you so much, Arthur. You mean everything to me, this family means everything to me. Nothing will ever change that, especially not someone on some app.”
“If what you’re saying is true, then why would you have that on your phone?”
“I told you, it wasn’t me-“
“Then who was it? Who else could it have been using a dating app on your phone?”
Francis sighed before answering, he felt like a broken record repeating himself over and over again but if it meant gaining his lover’s trust back, he really didn’t care. “Matthew, it was Matthew. I know it sounds crazy but he was the one on that app!”
Silence…
“Seriously?” Arthur scoffed, “Quit blaming your son for your mistakes and admit it was you on that app!”
“Mon dieu...” Francis sighed. He felt stuck. No matter how hard he tried to get Arthur to believe it was not him, Arthur kept being difficult and pushed him away. “Please, believe me. I don’t know how many times I’ll have to repeat myself for you to believe me, but I swear it was not me.”
The two continued to argue back and forth. Alfred and Matthew were beginning to get bored of sitting in the kitchen, listening to them go back and forth about the matter.
“Mattie, dude, you should just admit it to Arthur.” Alfred knew what he was suggesting was risky but he knew that something had to be done.
“What?! Hell no, are you out of your mind?!” Matthew gave him a look Alfred didn’t know he was capable of producing, prompting a chuckle from him.
“Just trust me bro,” he placed a hand on Matthew’s shoulder. “If anything happens to you or Francis I’ll make sure to save you guys!”
“Will you be able to save me from the embarrassment of admitting I got catfished online using Francis’s phone?”
“Uhh, no, but I could save you from getting your ass beat!”
Matthew let out a nervous sigh, hesitating to speak. “Fine, but only if you also take the blame! Just like you said this was also your fault too-“ Matthew was interrupted by a loud noise from the living room.
“Come on, mon amour! You know you miss sleeping with me every night!”
“I do not! Quit being so obnoxious and just watch the bloody movie!”
“If you really were so bothered by my presence, you would’ve left already. Don’t try and fool me, Arthur, I know how you are.”
Arthur simply scoffed and turned his head to face the tv. Despite trying to act like it didn’t faze him at all, the lack of Francis’s presence did make him feel a bit lonely. Just hearing Francis’s voice made him feel a bit sad but the pain of being cheated on was a million times worse than his occasional feelings of loneliness and sadness.
“What the hell just happened? Did they finally get it together?” Matthew shushed Alfred quickly.
“Wait, I think Francis might do something…”
“Do what?”
“Shh!!”
Matthew was right. Just as the living room was getting quiet and Arthur finally seemed to clam down a bit, Francis placed his arm around Arthur’s shoulders which unsurprisingly irritated the brit.
“H-hey, get the hell off me!” Arthur attempted to push Francis away but ultimately failed— although it was mostly because he barely put in any effort to push him away.
“Oh come on. Be a little calm for once! I’m not gonna bite you.”
Arthur sighed and made no further attempt at getting Francis off of him. He didn’t want to move away from him but at the same time everything in his body was telling him to push him away and run away.
“No way dude, Francis’s tricks are totally working on him!” The two brothers gave each other looks of both shock and joy.
“See? And you tried to get me to embarrass myself.”
“Okay, well it would’ve been worth it! For the sake of their relationship, y’know.”
“Sure…” Matthew rolled his eyes and chuckled.
The next couple minutes were spent in awkward silence. By this point Arthur had finally begun to realize that the boys have been out for a while now.
“Where the hell are Alfred and Matthew?” Arthur wanted to get up and go look for them but he was enjoying the position he was in too much to get up.
“Don’t worry mon amour, I’ll go look for them.” Francis gently picked his arm up from Arthur’s shoulders and got up to look for the brothers. He gave Arthur’s thigh a gentle squeeze before getting up.
Francis walked over to the kitchen where he had told them to be.
“Mes chéris, it worked!” Francis giggled and helped them up off from the cold kitchen floor.
“Really? So I don’t have to admit that I caused all of this?” Matthew seemed way more happy than Francis about the plan being successful. He thought that because it worked he could walk away without punishment.
“Oh no, don’t think that just because I’m happy you won’t get grounded?” Canada gulped nervously. “Tomorrow Arthur and I are going to have a long chat with you!”
Alfred couldn’t help but chuckle. All this waiting and praying just to end up getting grounded anyway.
“Don’t think that you’re safe either, Alfred! We will also be having a chat with you tomorrow.”
“Aw dang it…” Alfred thought that he was off the hook but the universe—or should he say Francis— had very different plans for him.
“Now come on and let’s go finish up this movie. There’s only thirty minutes left anyway.” Francis signaled for the two to follow him.
When Francis and the brothers returned to the living room, Arthur gave the boys a look that he only ever made when he was silently mad at them.
“Sorry Arthur, we just… got a bit distracted while grabbing snacks.” Matthew’s voice trembled as he spoke.
“Whatever, let’s just finish this movie up and get to bed.” Francis sat down close to Arthur and placed a hand on his thigh, just barely touching his hand which was near it. Arthur wanted to protest but chose not to because Alfred and Matthew were present.
.
.
Thirty minutes later, the movie ended and both Matthew and Alfred had fallen asleep in almost the same exact position. Francis noticed it and immediately brought it to Arthur’s attention.
“Mon amour, look! Don’t they look so cute?”
“Yes they do,” Arthur couldn’t help but laugh. “And silly too.”
Francis laughed “Alfred’s drooling too.”
They laughed for a second before the room was consumed by silence once again.
“We should start getting ready for bed.” Francis suggested. “Maybe I could move back into your room now?”
“You wish…” Arthur didn’t want to entertain the idea but Francis kept pushing it.
“Come on, it’s been three days! My back is hurting really bad, Arthur.” Francis shook Arthur’s shoulder.
“Alright, alright! But it’s only for your back. Nothing else.”
“Of course, of course.” Francis got up and helped his husband up too.
The couple began to tidy the living room up and get the boys to bed. The rest of the night was pretty quiet and calm. A drastic difference between how it was only two hours ago. The two were finally working together for once that week. Arthur felt less hurt and lonely. Francis felt like he finally got his husband’s trust back. Everything felt right in the house again.
While Arthur was brushing his teeth over the bathroom sink, Francis came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist.
He gave Arthur a kiss on the right side of his neck and whispered into his ear. “You know I missed you, right?”
“R-right…” Arthur’s face quickly began to turn red, it felt like he was falling in love with Francis all over again. Except now they’ve been married for twelve years and they have two amazing sons.
“Hurry up and get ready for bed, you have work tomorrow mon amour.” Francis let go of him and ruffled his hair before heading to their shared bed.
“Yeah, good night Francis.”
“Bonne nuit.” Francis blew him a kiss before closing the door behind him.
.
.
Once Arthur was done brushing his teeth and washing his face, he headed off to bed where Francis was already laying down. He quietly laid down onto his side of the bed and pulled the blanket over his body.
Francis turned to face him and wrapped his arms around Arthur.
“Je t’aime, Arthur.”
“I love you too…”
For once that whole night, their silence felt right. Francis played with Arthur’s hair, combing his fingers through his blonde locks before slowly falling asleep with Arthur falling asleep soon after. Everything was back to normal, like nothing had ever happened. It was all normal once again.