Streets (USUK)

Chapter One

"Aaaaarthurrrrrr~!"

Honestly, could he ever just get some peace and quiet?

Arthur stood up from his old dilapidated couch and walked over to the front door, pulling it open and looking up at the French man on his doorstep.

"What do you want?" he asked, exasperated.

"Oh, in a bad mood, now are we?" his neighbor raised an eyebrow. "Well then, I'll make this quick." He stepped inside briskly and cleared his throat. "Now..."

"Hurry up, Francis. I don't have all day.

"Shush. I'm talking. Anyways, there's this really great store not too far from here, and I just so happened to notice that they were hiring, and I thought-"

Arthur shoved the man out the door. "I told you already Francis, and I won't tell you again! I am not interested in taking any jobs, so just give it up already, would you?" he yelled.

Francis sighed. "You need some way to pay your bills, mon ami..."

Arthur glared at the carpet. "It doesn't even matter. Life's pointless anyway. We all end up dying alone."

Francis furrowed his brow. "Oh, don't be so pessimistic. I'm sure things will get better for you in the future, Arthur." He turned to walk away, but then glanced over his shoulder. "Remember, if you ever change your mind... Well, just call me. Okay?"

"Okay." Arthur shut the door and collapsed back onto his couch. He would never change his mind. This was how his life was going to be, all the way up until the day he died.

-

It was 2 in the afternoon, and he hadn't had breakfast yet. He was hungry, but he didn't want to get up. Arthur stared at the ceiling for a while until finally deciding to get up.

"I'll just pick up something small." he muttered to himself, tugging on his coat. "Nothing too expensive."

Arthur stepped out into the cold, and, wrapping his coat tighter around him, starting walking to the nearest corner store.

The sky was gray and dull, and the entire town looked gloomy. Arthur sighed. There hadn't been sun in days. He very much disliked the cold. He always had. But back in Britain, it was cold a lot. You would think he would be used to dull, windy days like this, but they still bothered him. He just wanted winter to be over.

As he neared the corner store, his mind began to wander. How was his family doing? He hoped his mother was well. She was getting older, and sicker, and he hadn't been able to visit her due to his lack of money. But he was sure his brothers and his father would take very good care of her, so there was really no need to worry.

Suddenly, Arthur felt a small tugging in his left back pocket. Confused, he stopped and turned around. He caught a glimpse of a person sprinting down the sidewalk before they turned the corner. Panicking, he frantically searched his pockets. His wallet was nowhere to be found.

Dammit.

Arthur began to run in the direction the person disappeared. He could barely believe what had just happened. Pickpocketing? Unheard of, where he lived. He just hoped he could run fast enough to catch this little asshole and report them to the police.

He rounded the corner and saw the person, crouched against the side of a building, digging through his wallet. He quickly walked up to the person and snatched his wallet out of their hands.

"What do you think you're doing?" Arthur spat with as much venom as he could muster.

The person froze.

"What were you trying to pull, huh?" He took a step forward.

The person spoke in a small voice. "I..."

Arthur picked them up off the ground and stood them on their feet, taking off their hood. It was a man, maybe 19 or 20, with dirty blonde hair (just like his), the bluest eyes he'd ever seen, and glasses.

The man looked ashamed, and was shaking as he averted Arthur's gaze. "I... I'm really sorry. I just..."

"You just? You just what?" Arthur frowned. "You honestly thought you could get away with something like that? Are you insane?"

The man was shaking harder now.

Arthur's soft side overpowered his cold one, and so he sighed once more and sat down with the man. "Explain." he said.

"I..." the man stuttered. "I don't have any money."

"Well shit, neither do I." Arthur mumbled. "Go on."

"Okay, let me start at the beginning." The man took a deep breath to calm himself down. "My... My entire family died in a car accident when I was eighteen, and they had left money, but their will was lost, so I ended up homeless. I'm twenty-two now." He laughed weakly, and leaned his head up against the building. "What a cliché story, huh? But it's the truth. And here I am now." He stood up, wiped tears from his eyes, and brushed off his jeans. "I'm really sorry. You were right. That was stupid. I'd seen it on TV, thought I could pull it off... well, I'm never doing that again. See ya."

Shocked by his story and his awkward farewell, Arthur sat there for a few seconds before realizing what the man was wearing. What was it, 40 degrees outside, and the man was wearing a paper-thin sweatshirt and dirty, cut-up jeans. No wonder he was shaking so badly.

"Wait." Arthur stood up, and stopped the man from leaving. He tried for a comforting smile. "Come with me. Let's get you something to eat, and then we're getting you some new clothes."

The man's eyes teared up, and he asked in disbelief, "Really?"

Even Arthur couldn't believe he was saying that. Could he even afford to do what he was offering to the man? Putting all those thoughts aside, Arthur maintained his smile and nodded. He would try. "Yeah." he said. He stepped forward and placed his coat around the man's shoulders.

The man damn near collapsed. "Oh, my God... Thank you..."

Arthur placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "What's your name?"