Both boys wearily peeked over the corner of the wall, watching with great concern as Arthur sat on the edge of his bed quietly murmuring to Francis who lied feverishly on the bed. Layers of blankets were thrown over him, his face was flushed red and was super warm to the touch, Arthur whispered sweet nothings to him as he stroked his long hair that stuck to his forehead with sweat.

Eventually, Francis had drifted off into a feverish slumber leaving Arthur with a heavy heart. "Dad?.." Alfred surprisingly spoke in a quiet voice, Arthur jumped and quickly wiped at his teary eyes before facing his sons with a wobbly smile. "H-hello boys, is everything okay?" he asked. "Is papa going to be okay?" this time Matthew spoke with a crack in his soft voice.

Arthur rose from the bed and sat on the floor urging the boys to join him. "Your papa is just a little sick." He explained as both Alfred and Matthew climbed into his arms and leaned their head against his chest. "It's scary.." Matthew whimpered. "I know, I'm scared too but your papa is strong. I know he is." Arthur patted their backs in a soothing manner. "Don't worry Mattie, papa will fight the sickness. And when he wins we'll be able to play again." Alfred smiled widely.

Arthur forced a smile at his sons attempt to cheer up his brother. "Alfred is right Matthew, as soon as your papa gets better he'll be able to play with you and Alfred every day." Matthew looked at his father with hopeful eyes. "You really mean it?" he asked curiously. "Yes, love. Papa will be okay, trust me." He stroked Matthew's long locks, running his fingers through his silk like golden hair. Alfred and Matthew snuggled up against Arthur's chest as he hummed a quiet tune lulling the distressed children to sleep.

Francis soon awoke with a coughing fit, his face was red, Arthur stood carefully and regretfully rushed to the boy's room tucking both of his children into their bed placing quick kisses on their foreheads before heading back to Francis and helped him through his coughing fit. He offered him water which he gladly obliged, Francis was relieved as the cool water soothed his burning throat. "Thank you, love." He smiled at Arthur but frowned when he saw how scared the Brit looked.

He set the glass of water on the nightstand aside from him and grabbed Arthur's hand and pulled him down on the bed with him. He pulled Arthur close and buried his face in his shoulder. "Don't be scared Arthur, it's just a little fever. I'll be okay." He reassured in a raspy voice due to how raw his throat was from all the coughing. "I..I know that." Arthur stammered. "Oh? Then why does it sound like you're about to cry?" Francis closed his eyes tiredly and ran his hand through Arthur's short hair.

He felt sleep beginning to invade his mind and body. "Arthur.." He called out. "Yes, love?" his voice calmed Francis, his touch made him feel safe. Francis sloppily wrapped his arms around Arthur. "Stay here with me." He said almost in a pleading voice. "I will, I promise," Arthur reassured with a kind smile. "I will never ever leave you." He turned to face the sleeping Frenchman and placed his hand on his warm cheek.

He shivered at how cold the room became and worried that Francis would get worse, he checked his temperature again knowing well enough that if his fever was high he wouldn't be able to cover him with a blanket, but to his luck he was only warm and not extremely hot just as how he was in the morning so with a relieved smile he grabbed a blanket and threw it over their bodies. He scooted closer to Francis wanting to get some warmth from him, his feet and hands were cold.

It was barely mid-afternoon but he hadn't slept since last night, last night being one of the worst nights he ever had. Francis was tripping, fainting, throwing up, and trembling so much it scared Arthur and the boys half to death. Arthur feared for the worse and nearly cried every time Francis would faint due to the high fever; but seeing him now, he looked a lot better than before. His face was soft and it no longer twisted in pain or discomfort like earlier.

Arthur knew that if he were to lose Francis now he would never forgive himself because he knew he put Francis through a lot of pain and his children were also greatly damaged. Arthur felt guilty, he wanted so badly to be punished for his mistakes; but he already knew Francis. Francis was a major pacifist and only moved to physically hurting someone if things got way out of hand.

He knew Francis was too sweet to ever hurt someone physically, even so, Arthur still wanted to be yelled at or at least scolded by him....but he never did. Arthur knew why though because he knew Francis was broken, he knew he needed help and support to bring the light out of him once again. He knew he wanted to change. With a tired yawn, Arthur threw his arm over Francis' waist and drifted off to sleep.

----------------------------------------------------

Arthur carefully served the soup into the bowls and set them on the table, both Matthew and Alfred had soon woken from their naps with grumbling stomachs. "Here you go, I didn't burn it this time!" Arthur cheered to himself with a wide smile. "Yeah, but you hurt your hand's daddy," Matthew stated worriedly. "Ah..." Arthur looked at his angry red hands.

Okay, so maybe he burned his hands a tiny bit...

He went to the sink and turned on the cold water with swollen fingers sighing in relief as the cold water came in contact with his burnt hands, Alfred nudged his leg and handed him the first aid kit from the bathroom. "Dad, you really are clumsy you know?" he giggled. "You helped me once so let me help you." He said in a courageous tone and puffed out his chest in a hero like manner.

Arthur smiled and led him back to the kitchen table where he sat next to him and set the kit down, he grabbed a burn cream and smothered the palms of his hands with a thin layer of cream. He sighed in content with instant relief. "That's better." He mumbled and looked at his sons with a reassuring smile. "Here dad, I'll help this time!" Alfred held up a roll of blue colored gauze. "Thank you, Alfred." Arthur held out his hands to him.

With swift but careful movements Alfred wrapped the bandage around his father's injured hands. "Oh my, you're very skilled with this Alfred." Arthur gasped. "Well.." Alfred looked at his brother who stood and took his bowl to the sink. "Back at the orphanage Mattie used to get hurt a lot, no one else would help him so.." He trailed off and snipped off the final strand with safety scissors. "I was always there for him." He smiled.

Arthur looked down at his perfectly mended hands and pulled Alfred into a hug. "Thank you so much, Alfred." He placed a kiss on his cheek and pulled away from the embrace. "Matthew." He turned to see that Matthew was having a little difficulty trying to reach the sink, Arthur chuckled and stood and helped him by grabbing the bowl from his small hands and placed it in the sink.

He looked down at him. "Maybe you can help me bring some soup to your papa?" he suggested. "Yeah o-okay!" Matthew beamed excitedly. Alfred lit up at the mention of his papa. "Can I help too dad?" he asked anxiously. "Of course." Arthur nodded in agreement.

Soon enough the small group quietly entered the room, Alfred had huge mittens on his tiny hands as he held a hot bowl of soup, Matthew held a tall glass of water and Arthur had medicines for Francis to take. "Alright boys, just place the stuff on the nightstand." He ordered them. "Yes." They both nodded and carefully placed the bowl and water on the nightstand beside the bed where Francis slept.

Matthew had frozen in place, his eyes instantly filling with tears. "Papa.." He whimpered, Alfred took notice and grabbed his brother's hand. "Let's go, Mattie." He said quietly, Alfred glanced at his father who nodded to him with a sad look on his face. Matthew sniffled and nodded allowing himself to be pulled by his brother.

As soon as both of his sons were gone Arthur guiltily went to Francis' side and gently shook his shoulder. Francis groaned and squeezed his eyes before slowly opening them. "..ah I got to be awoken by an angle, but I'm not ready to go just yet." He smiled. "Don't joke around like that, you're not going anywhere." Arthur frowned and helped Francis sit up. "The boys dropped something off for you." Francis lit up. "Oh, no..how are they? Have they been well?" he asked. "..they both didn't handle it so well.." Arthur mumbled.

Francis frowned and leaned over to Arthur placing his hand on the Brits chee. "How about you?..from the circles under your eyes I can tell you didn't handle it so well too..have you eaten?" Arthur flinched at the question and stayed quiet. "Sit with me, lets share," Francis suggested. "B-but!" Arthur tried to protest but was pulled onto the bed with Francis.

"You've helped me, now let me help you." He placed a kiss on his cheek and grabbed the bowl of soup being careful not to drop any on the bed. Francis threw the blanket over Arthur and gave him a bit of the soup before taking a bit for himself. "I hope I don't get sick because of you," Arthur stated wearily. "Nonsense, you'll get sick if I kiss you. Although it wouldn't be that bad would it?.." He leaned closer to Arthur who placed his hand over his mouth. "Not happening." He said. "But for now this is all you'll get." He kept his hand on Francis' mouth and then leaned over and kissed the back of his hand.

He blushed and pulled away. "That's teasing! No fair!" Francis whined. "...thank you though, I can't wait to get better so I'll be able to actually kiss you." He grinned, Arthur blushed darker "...I'll be waiting till you get better then..."