[fanfiction] 50 Sentences (fifty reasons why they had to hate and needed to love)
Title: 50 Sentences (Beta) or, alternatively, fifty reasons why they had to hate and needed to love
Characters and Pairing: England/France
Rating: T
Notes: I'm terrible at this kind of "summarize everything you want to into one-sentence" so I thought I'd give it a shot for practice's sake.
01 - Walking.
After the war, France had the pleasure of being wheeled around the streets of Paris by a grumbling England.
02 - Waltz.
The only problem they had with dancing is that they both tried to lead.
03 - Wishes.
“I wish that I didn’t have to hate you and needed to love you.”
04 - Wonder.
Arthur wonders what France sees past his thorns.
05 - Worry.
It was raining and all England could do was stare out his window, waiting for a red umbrella to walk by.
06 - Whimsy.
England would only act fanciful or insane when he was dressed up in a toga or wasted out of his mind.
07 - Wasteland.
Long fingers traced over the wasteland of scars on the small nation’s back, ignoring the sleepy mewls of protest.
08 - Whiskey.
Although Francis loved his wine, a hard drink of whiskey was always welcome when they were stuck in the trenches.
09 - War.
If there wasn’t a war, they could always do battle in the bedroom.
10 - Weddings.
If they were ever going to marry (which they would only do over Arthur’s dead body according to the English nation) Francis was going to wear the dress.
11 - Birthday.
Despite Arthur’s technically non-existent birthday, Francis always seemed to find an excuse to pop out of cakes.
12 - Blessing.
Alfred folded his arms over his chest, and (after Matthew jabbed his elbow into the leather jacket) gave a slow nod, saying, “Fine, but if I ever walk in on your two doing it, I’m taking it back.”
13 - Bias.
France was not biased, he just preferred his cooking to Arthur’s.
14 - Burning.
Arthur knew that he loved her, and that’s why he had dropped the torch.
15 - Breathing.
No matter how often he saw the Englishman breathing, whether at the end on his blade, lying beside him or just reading a book while drinking tea, he never got tired of it.
16 - Breaking.
He could see Arthur cracking under the pressure, the newly established London Reich slowly eating away at whatever willpower he had.
17 - Belief.
Perhaps they were just put on the earth to show that two people who loathed each other could fall in love.
18 - Balloon.
At the carnival, the young Arthur’s crying over his scraped knee had ceased immediately as the bright green balloon bobbed in front of his eyes.
19 - Balcony.
No matter how many times they tried to deny it, they were star-crossed lovers.
20 - Bane.
The bane of Arthur’s existence and his reason for living, all squished into one perverted, charming Frenchman.
21 - Quiet.
When Arthur and Francis shared a rare moment of peace, it usually meant they had both fallen asleep, were giving each other the cold shoulder or enjoying a moment where they had nothing to say to each other.
22 - Quirks.
Every single one of England’s quirks either made Francis want to take the tea and dump it over his head or kiss the man.
23 - Question.
“I said my boss wanted me to marry you, and that was a lie.”
24 - Quarrel.
It was odd how their fights ranged from the fate of Europe to who left the toothpaste cap off.
25 - Quitting.
Francis now had to hide his cigarettes for fear that Arthur would give him the “quitting" lecture.
26 - Jump.
Ever since the “marriage” incident, Arthur now looked around each corner before going around, worried that France would be waiting there.
27 - Jester.
France had some odd costume fetishes.
28 - Jousting.
Grinning, Arthur flipped the visor of his helmet up, looking down into the mud where Francis was currently laying in the mud, moaning and clutching his armoured chest.
29 - Jewel.
Arthur was perhaps the crowning jewel of Francis’ list of fondest heartbreaks.
30 - Just.
America wasn’t sure if he trusted the Frenchman’s smile as Francis told him that he had just missed Arthur.
31 - Smirk.
Francis wanted nothing more than to slap the smile off his face.
32 - Sorrow.
So he sat in his room, watching Amélie (the only film he owned made by him) and ate trifle, crying his eyes out.
33 - Stupidity.
“You wrote a song?”
34 - Serenade.
“And you called it ‘Paris is Indeed Splendid’?”
35 - Sarcasm.
“Oh no, it’s a great song title.”
36 - Sordid.
It was a sordid and embarrassing affair -the hands so slick and nimble, the lips so fast and ravenous, the voice so husky and French- one Arthur wanted nothing more than to forget.
37 - Soliloquy.
Once on a visit to England, Francis had walked in on Arthur quietly speaking to old toy soldier, muttering apologies and rubbing his eyes every few seconds (the only time Francis had left without a hello.)
38 - Sojourn.
France had only planned to spend a short while on the small island.
39 - Share.
Francis did not like sharing Arthur with a certain American.
40 - Solitary.
It was his way of life, and if Francis wasn’t good at messing up his splendid isolation, then he really couldn’t call himself a Frenchman.
41 - Nowhere.
For every step forward they took together, they always seemed to take a hundred back.
42 - Neutral.
Switzerland would not stand for any more gay shenanigans in his Olympics.
43 - Nuance.
While Francis may have been a master of reading people but when Arthur’s eyes began to well with tears and a blush spread across his cheeks as he held out a small box of chocolates, he was at a complete loss.
44 - Near.
“There’s only a channel between us, mon petit lapin.”
45 - Natural.
Doesn’t the old saying go “opposites attract”?
46 - Horizon.
Arthur stood on the bow of his ship, clutching the rigging, watching the shores of France drift ever closer, bringing him closer to his enemy.
47 - Valiant.
Sometimes they weren’t sure which one was supposed to be the knight in shining armour.
48 - Virtuous.
They both could pretend to be gentleman, but they both knew that underneath the façade, they were no better than animals.
49 - Victory.
As dawn rose, Arthur scrambled up the hill to where Francis, heavily wounded and hunched slightly, stood proud, and after calling him numerous insults, hugged the Frenchman.
50 - Defeat.
No matter how much they fought, they always gave in to each other in the end.
Author’s Note
#16 - This is a story I'm working on where Germany wins World War II and sets up a base in London. It'll probably be up next after "Two Weeks of Sunshine" because I love the dialogue between Germany and England.
#33-36 - these are the only ones I managed to make a cohesive continuing plotline out of orz;;