SpUk Drabbles

Crush

"I just can't take it anymore!" Arthur groaned, plopping himself on Francis' beanbag chair. He winced as his phone sharply dug into his bottom, but shifted around until he was comfortable.

"Can't take what, mon ami?" Francis inquired, pulling over a Vogue magazine from the nightstand to his left. "Is this the Antonio thing again?" 

"Hell bloody yes, it's the Antonio thing again. What am I supposed to do?" Arthur moaned again, in self pity and frustration. Francis chuckled but offered no advice, instead taking the silence to flip another page of his style bible.

"Why are you so quiet? Aren't you going to give me the whole speech of 'man up and ask him out yourself'? Or an hour's worth of ways to possibly seduce the damn sexy Spaniard?" The Briton huffed, irritated.

"Non." was all the Frenchman said.

Arthur raised his rather large eyebrows. "And why, may I ask, is that?"

"Because you never take my advice to heart, mon ami." Francis peered up from his magazine to look at his British friend. "I think you should just do whatever works for you. Do what your heart tells you to do. Whether that's telling Espana how you feel about him or, mon dieu, je ne sais pas, writing him a love letter, whatever you think will work for you. Or who knows?" Francis smiled, "Maybe fate will guide you to him. Or not at all. It just depends on what life decides to do with you."

Arthur sighed heavily, feeling vulnerable. "But...I-I just don't know how to...actually say it to him, Francis. Like..." He scoffed again, growing red in the face, practically spitting out the words. "Dammit, Francis, you know I'm no bloody good at this-this, lovey-dovey romantic shit!"

Francis thought for a moment, snapping a hair tie off his wrist. "Well, you're comfortable talking around moi, so why don't you just start saying what you would want to say in front of him? That way, you're not feeling judged and I can help you say what you want to say to him." 

Arthur reluctantly nodded, biting his lip. "I...don't really know how to start, though." He tsked, rolling his eyes, "Actually, this is stupid-"

"Look, you can't just sulk about this forever!" Francis tsked, "That's certainly not going to get his attention. Just put aside your pride for a moment and get in touch with how you feel about him. Maybe start by saying things that you like about him?" The Frenchman hastily put his hair up, waiting patiently.

Arthur looked away, trying to get his thoughts together. "I...really like his smile..." Francis nodded encouragingly. "And...his smile makes me so happy, god, he looks so handsome when he smiles. It's like that feeling of a blind man looking into the sun for the first time, you know?" Arthur couldn't stop the grin on his face as he became more and more comfortable with talking. "And, well, he's truly really kind, always helping that grumpy Italian kid out with his Spanish, greeting everyone with a sincere smile and just, genuinely caring about others. There's nothing fake about him, no forced niceness. I love that about him. He just likes people, likes to talk and know other people." He laughed fondly, shyly running his hand through his messy hair. "I remember when I first met him."

"Oui? What happened?" Francis whispered, entranced.

"Well, I stormed into the meeting place, pissed off as usual, only this time, I was just plain livid. My car hadn't started, so I had to walk to the bloody meeting place in the rain. I was soaked and cold, and my feet hurt, ugh, it was a bloody terrible start to the day. And then, he was behind me. Antonio. I hadn't noticed until he gently tapped my shoulder." Arthur chuckled, reminsicing.

"Then what?"

"He said, "Wow, it's raining pretty hard out there, huh?" I was annoyed, because that was a dumb fucking question because it was so obvious, and I snapped back a 'yes'. And then he smiled. He asked me how I was doing, why I was all wet, the whole bloody package. And I'm just standing there, stunned. I couldn't believe he, this stranger who I barely ever talk to, would be wondering about my shitty morning. Because, you know, when the other Nations see me in a bad mood, they leave me the fuck alone. But not him. Reluctantly, I told him all about it. He was sympathetic, and even took my soaking wet jacket off and gave me his. Throughout the whole meeting, Antonio talked to me, getting to know me better and, at the end of the meeting, I was laughing with him. He was able to turn around my whole morning. That's what I love about him; he never fails to make me smile even when I'm in one of my dark moods."