The FrUK Chronicles

Francis woke when a stream of light hit his face. Opening his eyes was a mistake. The sun laughed as he squeezed his sensitive eyes shut and rolled over to discover another person in his bed. ~shit~ It was no other than Arthur. Francis would have slammed his beautiful face into the wall if it weren't for his post-drinking headache. He realized the other man was completely clothed minus, his shoes, and Francis himself was only shirtless, so nothing could have happened. He made a note that jeans were very uncomfortable to sleep in...Especially skinny jeans. Slowly, he got up to get to the bathroom to take every pill he could to get rid of his hangover symptoms. The bathroom reeked when he opened the door. His shirt sat in the tub covered in vomit, and by the taste in his mouth it wasn't his. He sighed, took his medicine and set the little trash bin next to the Brit just in case. Francis noticed, with further inspection, that he and Arthur both had marks lacing their necks. It was mostly Francis since he was the one with no shirt on. He realized that his store opened in an hour and got ready. Arthur didn't budge when the shower went on and then off, nor did he flinch when the hair dryer whirred to a start. He never heard the oven ding or the plates clatter as they were set out on the table. Francis checked Arthur's phone too, he had today off ~perfect~ he thought as he scribbled a note to the beautiful Englishman before happily making his way from the apartment.
-------
Arthur woke up in an unknown bed. It smelled like roses, vanilla candles and wine. ~The frogs house!~
“Francis…?” He called. No response. He realized there was a bucket next to him with a pink sticky note with scrawly writing.

‘Just in case! -Francis’

He sighed, stood up, and made his way into the bathroom. No retching occurred, though there were many close calls. Giving up, the green eyes man went to the living room where the smell of baked goods met his nose. Sure enough, with one look in the kitchen. There were a few croissants and a cup or tea waiting on the table next to another note.

‘If you don't feel like eating that's fine! Just thought I'd make you a little something before I left. The tea will make you feel better though and also take some meds for the hangover! -Francis’

~ugh! what a twat~ Arthur thought as he picked up the bread ~he didn't even wake me to tell me he was leaving~ He did have today off, not by choice but it was a good thing. He sipped the tea and took small bites of the French bread as he flipped through TV channels, waiting for the frog to come home
-------
Francis swung the doors open to see his dear friend Michelle waiting for him. She was his top priority today so he took her and her friends out of the line first to assist them.
“Bonjour Michelle! Oh it's been too long my dear come with me!” She smiled at him and followed to his office. The place was littered with fabrics, magazine pages, sewing supplies and even half a mannequin who lay sadly on the floor with needles stuck in the shoulders.
“So how have you been!” Michelle watched as her dear friend cleared a few chairs so they could all sit down together. He moved the fabric containers to his already messy desk and the floor beside it. The office itself was large. It was in the second floor and took up a third of it. Only the richer and more demanding customers got to go to Mr. Bonnefoy’s personal office, but Michelle and her friends were of course an exception. She was getting married and she has not even told Francis who it is. She didn't want him to get upset. Not that he would...She just wanted him to still be the best man since she didn't choose a maid of honor so he could stand with her, no matter who she makes her vows with.
“I'm good! I have a dress I'm looking for”
Francis huffed after moving the mannequin across the room and dashed back
“Let's see darling! Oh I hope you chose something gorgeous!” She pulled the picture up and to Francis’s surprise, it was bland. It was an average, normal, simple mermaid dress. No frills, no beading, no nothing, blank canvas dress.
“Well!” She asked, excitement in her eyes
“Umm…it's nice” he said ~I don't think I have such a boring looking dress in my inventory~
“You don't like it?”
“Y-”
“Don't lie!”
“No I don't” he said, giving up on hiding his true feelings towards the plain dress
“Well good cause I'm having it shipped here and you get to alter it all you want!”
“What!” He sprung up so fast that he almost fell on his ass “Really!”
“Of course! You taught me all I know about fashion! Of course I wouldn't wear such a plain looking thing to my wedding!” Francis grabbed her hands and squealing like a happy school girl.
“Alright then! Come on back tomorrow then!” Michelle kissed his cheeks and went off with her friends to go to another shoppe down the road. Francis whipped out his sketchbook and began drawing the basic mermaid dress. He added frills at the bottom, beading around the top, ditched the sleeves in favor of a deep neckline, and added a corset like back to it so it could show off the bride’s curves. He was interrupted by a distressed call from one of his staff members. He set off to find Matthias being scolded and yelled at by a plump woman who was told to go to the back of the like. The Danish teen only sighed and told her to please stop yelling in the store, which only made her yell more.
“What seems to be the problem madame?” Francis asked as he approached the two. Honestly, he was the owner and should leave this to the staff to handle...But helping customers was something he thoroughly enjoyed.
“Oh great there you are!” She bellowed “This dress is too small” she held up a dress in a bag that looked vaguely familiar to the Frenchman, probably because he is the one who made it.
“Miss, I sold that dress weeks ago”
“Yeah and I tried it on yesterday and it's to small! I'd like to exchange it”
“It doesn't work like that here, come with me we can try to alter it!” Francis said as politely as he could. He took her past the dressing rooms to a spare office where the other tailors worked on Wednesdays and Fridays. She put the dress on and sure enough, she was popping out of it. Her bust looked like it would soon bust the dress, her rear was trying to peek out of the lace up back and her arms looked like sausages in the sleeves.
“There is not much I can do...Let me try something though” he unlaced the back and watched the dress relax. An idea struck him like a match, and his creativity was set ablaze. He took out the lace up back, sewed some fabric in place of that and added a zipper instead of ribbon. Then he cut off the sleeves, extended them, and slowly reattached them. By the time he was done, however, the woman had fallen asleep on the bench.
“The dress is done!” He called, startling the woman awake. She changed there, Francis’s back to her and when he turned around she glared.
“How much do I gotta pay for this now?”
“Four hundred sixty dollars dear”
“Not bad...I'll take it I guess” He sighed and set her off back into the city, Matthias looked concerned but escorted another group into the showroom anyway. Francis felt his phone buzz and sure enough, it was his gentleman
From Artie
Thank you for breakfast. Mind if I stay here awhile?
Sent at 9:37AM
Francis felt his heart sing, though he was reading it now three hours later, he couldn't wait to see him.
To Artie
Of course mon lapin! My home is yours!<3
Sent at 12:18PM
-------
Arthur was feeling much better. Francis had lots of fashion shows recorded, Say Yes To The Dress, What Not To Wear, Project Runway, America’s Next Top Model, and then there were also cooking shows like Hell's Kitchen too. Arthur played an episode of Say Yes To The Dress so he could attempt to understand fashion. The first bride was a real loud one. She wanted a big-ass ball gown with every bit of bling laying around the store. Arthur watched as she cried when she put on a feather and jeweled saying it was perfect.
“But that's hideous!” Arthur barked at the TV, not knowing that Francis stood outside the door chuckling. “Less is more, Miss!” He stated before he sat back and began to fast forward the commercials. A click rang through the room as a warning. Then, the loud, blond, French frog burst in saying how much it meant to him that his guest liked the croissants he made. Arthur hid his blush and greeted the man as well. There we some noise coming from the kitchen and the Frenchman sat next to Arthur with an almost full glass of wine in his hand and a smile on his face.
“Typical” Arthur spat
“Rude” Francis said back before taking a long drink from his glass “Have you enjoyed my home mon ami?”
“Yes it's very nice” Francis smirked into his glass and looked over to the Brit. His hair was a mess, just like the time they first met, he was in his clothes from yesterday and the crumbs from the bread could be seen on his lovely green pants.
“I should be going” he said suddenly “I have work to do, and I bet you do so I shouldn't be here interfering”
“Arthur you are more than welcome-” But it was too late. The Brit grabbed his jacket and shoes and left without putting them on. ~what has gotten into him?”
-------
Arthur's face felt like lava. He was blushing like mad and he didn't even know why. The way the frog looked at him just made him feel bubbly and happy. The blue eyes had pierced into his own, and the undone buttons of his shirt had shown the marks from last night. Arthur jammed his finger into the the elevator button willing it to go down the few floors so he could crash into his couch drink some tea and just think of how in love with Francis he was.