Random Frerard Fluff [ONE SHOTS] [COMPLETED]

As Fate Would Have It

AU FIC

The day was hot, that much was certain. The exact temperature was blissfully unknown to most, except those whack-job scientists, of course, but the day was most certainly hot.

The three letter word, one would think, holds far too much simplicity in its definition to describe something as vast as a whole day, where the sky transitions through a million different colours and where the happenings of a single minute possess the power to alter lives, but hot is undoubtedly the best word to describe anything but a day such as this.

The heat had weighed down on the atmosphere like a set of stifling bed clothes, trapping the small, dirty town below in a cage of dust and stink, and the burning sun treated the townsfolk with its heavy stare, keeping them in check as it beat down on their sweaty backs.

Corsets and petticoats had been a London fashion must for a number of decades - even in the lowest of households - hence it would be dreadfully improper of the ladies to change their ways anytime soon, but the sultry weather had the majority swooning until the scorching, sneering sun finally had mercy, late that afternoon.

As for the men of the town, well, most went about their daily businesses, whilst others stayed in to tend for their poorly wives - if they had no children (or children too young) to do so for them, that is.

There was one exception, however: a young man who couldn't care any less for the apparent heat. This young man was inappropriately unmarried for his age, and he came by the name of Franklin Iero Jr. The heat didn't affect him in the very slightest, for dearest Franklin was very poorly, and his high fever seemed to be taking its toll, because Franklin was still very, very clammy and cold, even clad in his mountain of blankets.

Now, Franklin had lived with twenty odd years of illness alongside him, so fevers were not a seldom occurrence among the changing of seasons.

He still, on the heavy influence of his widowed Ma, shared her abode, as well as the small fortune that his Pa had left - simply because he hadn't yet managed to woo a lady of her liking, and if he were to live alone, he would surely die with the amount of sickness that he was certain would befall him.

Many of the townsfolk frowned upon Franklin's decisions, for many thought him a strange boy, but most frowned upon his mother, to which she would forcefully remind them to mind their own business, with a scowl on her face and a scolding expression.

"Ma, when is Gerard to arrive from Leeds?" Franklin asked in the early hours of that evening, pining for his good friend's return. He was still quite delirious, but recovering, since the fever of a few days had finally broken midway through the hot, hot day. He clasped his mother's soft hand in his rough ones, catching her as she reached to pet his forehead with a damp cloth, and he sent a pleading look her way. She replied with a sigh, perching herself on the edge of his scratchy mattress, once he'd shuffled around to give her some room.

"Well, he called in this morning, to see if you were fit for some tea, but I shooed him off. Silly boy, he was babbling on about something there was to tell you." Franklin smiled weakly, exhausted as he was. His Ma stroked his dark hair lightly, in the motherly kind of way, before extinguishing the room's bedside candle the moment Franklin's eyelids began to droop. She moved to the threshold of the small room, supporting her thin form on the door frame, and watched for a time - the ghost of a faint smile tracing her tight lips - as Franklin's raspy breathing levelled, and he slipped into a peaceful unconsciousness. "Dear me," she whispered into the darkness, praying to God, a single tear falling onto her breast.

Ms Iero continued to cry silently, for she still didn't have the courage to be widowed, especially with a son who needn't be planning his next winter, for it was unlikely he'd even live that long. She stood and cried for what seemed like an eternity, all the while wondering if Franklin would somehow know that he was going to die.